All for the Thrill
by CMMS
Summary: What happens when Troy and Gabriella move on from their previous life in Albuquerque? What happens when Troy lets go of everything he once knew and settles on a different life away from his family and friends? How is it all brought back together?
1. Chapter 1

Troy sat at the diner waiting for his wife of one year to arrive for their daily lunch date since their work schedules were to hectic to work around. They met everyday for lunch as an attempt to spend more time together. His mind was elsewhere as he stared at his wedding ring upon his finger. He loved his wife, Pamela, dearly and he knew she was beautiful, one of the traits he loved amongst others, but over the years Troy's mind never seemed to have forgotten Gabriella. They broke up after their first year of college since the distance was a conflict for both to handle. He never quite let her go, wandering if she ever did.

'I wonder where she could be now…or what she's doing…who's she with…is she still single? Ugh, like it matters, you're married to a great woman who loves you back just as much as you love her', and with that thought expressed to himself, Pamela walked into the diner finding Troy at their usual table.

"Hey babe!" she greeted with a soft peck on Troy's lips which he returned.

"Hey Pam, you're running a little late…" he began tease while playfully looking at his watch. She giggled at his playfulness as he simply smiled back.

"Yeah, well sorry about that one. Things at the office are even worse than they normally are for me. I have clients coming left and right and it's driving me insane! But at least its my _favorite_ part of the day so I guess it isn't that bad then huh?" She smirked his way as her green eyes twinkled.

"Nope! Now I wander why this is your favorite part because I know why it's my favorite."

"Because I get to see my sweet husband who I just cant seem to get enough of and that I love so much with all my heart. Babe, you have no idea just how much I cherish the little time that we see each other. Especially now since I have no clue as to what hour I'm coming home from the office tonight and you're always so busy with your shows. I really do miss you during the day and it just makes me happy to sit here with you and enjoy being in your presence even if it is only for an hour." Pamela said as she grasped unto his left hand that laid against the table, sincerity gleaming through her bright eyes. Troy stared intently back piercing his blue eyes into hers.

"Well on my behalf, I must say that I love you twice as much as you love me…and don't argue that one. I know that we don't see each other as much as we would like to but trust me when I say that our love is stronger than ever and that because you and I make it work. So we don't always go out like normal couples do but that doesn't mean that we don't have a special place for each other here." Troy swiftly pointed at his heart with his right hand as his left still clutched onto hers, speaking with reassurance in his voice.

Suddenly the waitress appeared with her notepad in hand, "Can I take your orders?"

The couple released their hands from one another as they skimmed their menus, forgetting to look at them before.

"Um…yeah, I'll have a Chili Burrito with extra tomatoes, curly cheese fries on the side, and a Coke" Troy ordered as the waitress took his menu.

"As for me, I'll take the Lasagna with garlic bread and a Sprite." Pam smiled at the waitress as she finished writing down their orders.

"Alright, I'll be back in a jiffy with your orders." She said as she walked off.

"So how are the shows coming along Mr. Broadway?" Pamela teased with a slight smirk at the nickname she had for him.

"They're coming along just fine actually. It's only into its second week on Broadway and so far it's been a hit. Critics seemed so have give nothing but good reviews and the seats are full every night. In fact, we have done three shows a day for two weeks now and there has been over six sold out shows. I guess we have the promotional companies and all the publicity to thank for that one. I guess the critics are to be thanked to since they're usually cut throat about these things but have been very positive. I'm glad this show is doing better than the other plays I've taken part in. So overall, life is good. I have my dream job in New York City, which is by far the best city on this planet, I'm alive with good health, and I have a gorgeous wife. What more could I want?" he asked aloud but in the back of his mind he knew someone was missing, someone with long wavy brown hair and the eyes to match.

"That's great sweetie! I'm proud of you and it makes me happy just to know that you're happy…"

"That I am. You're part of the reason why Pam."

"Could you be anymore…_perfect_? I mean seriously, even after a year of marriage and I dated you for like two years before, you'd think by now that I would get used to you saying little things like that. Gosh, I'll never get tired of it though."

"I hope not cause I like seeing that slight blush you never seem to fail to get." Troy responded as his mind drifted off to his remembrance of how Gabriella's used to blush.

"Do not!" she childishly stated as he chuckled when she moved her hands to cover her cheeks

The couple continued their light-hearted conversation as the waitress soon came with their orders.

- - _Meanwhile_ - -

Gabriella let out a slightly frustrated sigh as she flipped through the pages of the newspaper. It was only 12:45 pm, fifteen more minutes of doing nothing until she was to start work again. She was the magazine editor of Clique magazine, an up and coming magazine that has had 5 successful issues.

"Can't wait for five o'clock to come already. I'm exhausted from all this…fifteen more minutes of 'me' time before everyone comes in here with work to show. I love my job but sometimes it's just stressful judging what goes and what doesn't especially when you know everyone else has to work hard to please you and try their best when it isn't good enough sometimes." Gabriella thought to herself with a blank look upon her face as her cell phone suddenly rang, bringing her back down to reality.

She looked at the caller ID and smiled when she saw the face of her best friend Taylor.

"Hey Tay!" she excitedly let out.

"Hey Gab! Thought I'd call you and check up on how things are going with you over there in little old California." Taylor was known for checking up on Gabriella every so often.

"Things are still the same as when you last called Tay. The job is going well and it's paying my growing bills so there's a plus. Besides that, I'm planning a celebration for the employees for the success of this magazine but I haven't quite figured out what to do just yet. Um, what else is there…" Gabriella tried figuring what else she could tell her friend all about.

"And how's the love life going for you?" she bluntly asked.

Through the other end of the phone, Gabriella allowed a soft groan to escape in frustration, as she knew that that question was bound to come. Taylor normally asked this question since she felt concern that her friend has been single for more than a year now with off and on dating with random guys but none seeming to be what Gabriella wanted. Gabriella's mind began to wander how she would answer Taylor's question.

"Gab? You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry…um…well, as for my love life, remember the guy Kevin that I told you about? He has black hair and the hazel eyes? Yeah, well uh…things didn't work with that one either. He was too…clingy? I don't know, it wasn't going right and I knew it wouldn't have lasted anyway." She admitted to Taylor, yet she also knew there was someone else involved too…someone who she hasn't seen in over 3 ½ years.

"Gab, if I didn't know you any better I would have actually thought that you just simply didn't like the guy, but I do know you and I know that you aren't allowing yourself to open up to any of the possibilities of what could happen with these guys. Look, I understand that your heart might still be searching for that one guy that got away and I know that you know who I'm talking about. Mr. Troy Bolton perhaps?" Taylor knew that saying his name would get a reaction out of Gabriella and just wanted her best friend to own up to her feelings.

"Alright, alright, you got me! Tay is it so bad for me to still ponder over him after all these years? Is it wrong for me to compare almost every guy I meet to Troy? Gosh, he was just so perfect! I mean, I didn't mean to just lose contact with him but it seems as though he wasn't trying that hard either. Oh gosh, I'm so pathetic! I can't believe that my heart still feels something for him and I haven't heard anything about him at all. Who knows what's going on with his life or what he's doing, who he's with, anything! I am pathetic, aren't I?" Gabriella rambled her thoughts at the speed of light leaving Taylor slightly confused as to what she said.

"No, you're not _pathetic_…you cant always control what the heart feels Gabby. It happens, its normal. No one ever said that getting over your first love is easy especially after the years that you guys were together. I mean four years is a long time! I'm sorry Gab; I didn't mean to get you that worked up. It's that you're twenty-five already and you haven't had a serious relationship for the past five. I just want you to be happy already. You know what, I got an idea!" Taylor exclaimed excitedly with a slight squeal.

"It better be a good one McKessie…" Gabriella stated with an uneasy tone.

"Well, if your heart must insist on its feelings for Troy, do something about it! What do you say we try looking up Mr. Bolton? You know, like where he could be. Basically track him down and set out on a road trip and find him! Doesn't that sound exciting?"

"You mean to tell me that your idea is to basically stalk him down?"

"Why not?"

"Taylor I just can't do that…I can't leave my job for that long to search a guy that once loved me if he still doesn't now which I'm sure. That's just a bit too out there. Don't you think? Besides, what am I going to do or say to him? 'Hey Troy, haven't seen you in awhile so I decided to pop out the blue and sweep you off your feet until your mine'?"

"Well something along those lines would work! I'd joking by the way about that, but I'm very serious about the road trip to find him. We could even include Chad!" Taylor and Chad weren't dating anymore but stood as good friends after graduation. Chad lost contact with Troy once Troy left Albuquerque and went to New York to fulfill his dream of acting. Troy eventually stopped calling once his career started to take off.

" I don't know Tay…" Taylor noted the uneasiness in Gabriella's voice again.

"Come on Gabby! Why not try something spontaneous? Why not allowing yourself to just give in and let go of it all and just say 'Screw it'! You deserve to be happy just as much as everyone else does, so why not take the chance just this once and see where it takes you? If it doesn't work then you don't ever to let me convince you to try anything that you're unsure of, but if it does work then hopefully you'll get the love of your life." Taylor tried convincing knowing that Gabriella would soon give in.

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Great! I'll get in touch with Chad and call you later tonight to start planning!"

"Fine…I guess. Anyway Taylor, I got to let you go. My fifteen minutes are up and I already hear the knocks at my door of people waiting to make me work. Call me later and we'll discuss this then. Talk to you soon." With that said, Gabriella hung up her phone and let out an exasperated sigh.

'Was Taylor really serious?'

_ - - Later that night - -_

"Taylor, I just can't! It's crazy and stalkerish and ju-just so…impossible!" exclaimed Gabriella causing Chad to laugh from the other line since he was joined on three-way with the ladies.

"Gabs, nothing's impossible. Besides, what's so crazy about finding love?" questioned Chad who had listened intently on the girls' conversation until then.

"I don't know…I just don't want to intrude on whatever life he might have now. I mean, it must be something great and busy if he hasn't really kept in touch with you through the years Chad." Gabriella stated.

"True, but maybe he has different reasons. Look Gabby, I miss Troy too…he was my best friend since pre-school. I want to see him just as how as I know you do, so why not just take this crazy chance and see how it goes? It may or may not work out as we hope but at least you're not alone." The curly haired man said, surprising the girls with the wisdom he provided.

"Gabriella, I must actually say that I agree with Chad here. By the way Chad, since when did you become 'Mr. Advice'?" Taylor said with a slight chuckle and scoff.

"Surprised you, didn't I? Well, we all change a bit during the years, this how I made mine" returned Chad.

"Well, I must admit that I like it" the darker girl proclaimed with a blush upon her cheeks.

"Thank you! So um…uh…oh! Back to the original topic. Gab you still there?" Chad said with a shaky tone from the nervousness from Taylor's compliment.

"Uh, yeah. So, when should we do this so that I can start scheduling my time off?" questioned Gabriella.

"Wait! So you're down to look for Bolton?" Taylor excitedly asked her best friend.

"Yeah, I guess so. Chad proved a point and I guess I shouldn't be selfish to stop this trip because of my fear and concerns. Besides, you only live once right? What could possibly by the worst that could happen?" with that said, the three started to plan their road trip in search of Troy.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So hi! My name is Carla and this is my very first fictional story that I've posted.

If I have any typing errors, forgive me.

If you have any thoughts/ opinion, message me!

If you just like the story, review it.

I hope you guys enjoy the vision that I have so far for this story and where it will eventually go.

I will try to update as often as I can since college just started and work will be given often.

Anyways, thanks for reading my 1st chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

A week later, Gabriella drove her way from California to New Mexico to pick up her two friends at Taylor's house where they were all to meet to begin their trip. No sooner did she arrive to and stepped into the door, Chad rushed towards her with his laptop in hand.

"Gabs! Ok, so I went to one of those background check websites and typed up Troy's name and there was like four other Troy Bolton's listed as living in the US! One is in Maine, another in Kansas, another in Mississippi, and the last one in New York. Anyway, I took Kansas and Maine off the list since they were listed to be in about their forties and late thirties. So that left me with Mississippi and New York. Then, I googled his name and guess what I found?" Chad rambled on filled with excitement as his brown eyes stared and twinkled before Gabriella.

"What did you find, Danforth?" she asked with a smirk upon her face, which turned into a giggle from his antics that resembled that of a little boy.

"He found reviews of a hit Broadway show known as "Amore Bella" in New York starring a certain somebody that goes by the name of Troy Bolton! Just like that! Can you believe it Gabby? We found him! We found Troy!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Whoever said I wasn't smart must owe me an apology." Chad's remark caused the girls to laugh.

"Well, I never doubted you knowing a thing or two before Chad. I can't believe that he's found; it makes the situation that much more surreal. I didn't know it could have been that simple to find someone…but I'm really glad that we did. Oh gosh, I'm starting to feel nervous from the shock of it all. It just hit me that we're really going to go through with this, huh?" Gabriella asked with a look of mixed feelings gracing her face.

"Of course we are! There's no turning back now, not after we now know where he is. Should we begin to hit the road ladies?" the young man questioned with a smile.

"I say we shall! Gabriella, leave your car parked in my garage since we're going to be taking Chad's Explorer. Chad, grab all the luggage and put them in your car. I'll grab the maps and everything else we might need. I hope everyone ate because this is a long drive we're doing and we're keeping pit stops minimal to try to cover a lot of ground today. Everyone when you're done, make one last bathroom run and we'll be saying 'Goodbye' to this town!" Taylor said with a serious expression as she took charge.

"Yes Sergeant Taylor!" Gabriella returned with a playful salute causing the group to giggle.

Fifteen minutes later and everyone piled into Chad's Explorer.

Across the US

"Another wonderful performance! It's like you get better each time its done." Exclaimed Kelsi as she congratulated Troy with a hug.

"Well that's 'cause theres an awesome composer for the show, not to mention she is a great encouraging friend of mine from way back when." Returned Troy, causing Kelsi to beam.

"Well that may be so but your acting has gotten better since East High. So, my boyfriend Patrick is bailing out on me for lunch today, want to join pal?" she asked her friend with a sad puppy face.

"Sure Kels…let me just call Pam and let her know so she could come along too…if you mind, that is…"he replied with a questioning look.

"I don't mind at all. She's more than welcomed to." Kelsi said.

"Thanks! Just give me a few minutes to call her…I'll be back" Troy said as he walked a few feet away to call his wife.

When Troy left Kelsi alone, she couldn't help but to observe her old friend and his feelings for Pam.

'Pam is a sweet girl…she's really great, but I wished he was still with Gabriella. Who know's what could have been if they would have been closer during college or if he wouldn't have left Albuquerque to come to New York. I know this whole thing is already like maybe four or five years old but I'm sure they would still feel something for one another! If only I could help it and magically tap into a secret database of the world or have a crystal ball to track her down for him. If only I could-' Kelsi's thoughts were interrupted as Troy walked towards her again.

"Pam can't make it…apparently the office is overloaded again and there's no way she can get out. So I guess its going to be just you and me." Troy said as he and Kelsi started to walk towards the EXIT.

They decided to walk towards a nearby restaurant called 'Dove Gardens' since the traffic in the city was ridiculous. Once they entered, the hostess seated them at a booth next to the windows in front. Afterwards, their waitress greeted them as she gave the menus and took their orders. When she was gone, Kelsi and Troy engaged themselves into an interesting conversation.

"So Kelsi, tell me about Patrick." The blue-eyed man asked his friend.

"Well Patrick and I met in Central Park a few months ago. I was walking my dog Hannah and he was walking his dog Earl. Anyway, it was so cliché…kind of like one of the moments in a movie. My dog and his dog walked towards each other and started to sniff each other out and next thing you know, we started talking. He was a really nice and I couldn't help but to have the urge to know more about him so we walked around together and switched numbers…we've been dating ever since." Kelsi said as she smiled from the memory.

"That's pretty cool. I met Pamela in the city too. I was waiting for a cab to come my way when she popped up a few feet away from me but still sort of next to me. Suddenly, a cab stops in front of her and I kind of let out a frustrated scream and she looked at me. I guess she figured that I was kind of pissed off that I was waiting for a while and nothing came until then but it was basically for her, not me. Then she asked me if I wanted to share the cab with her, and I agreed 'cause I really needed to get to the audition for the show now. She was sweet for doing that and I couldn't help but to ask her for at least a cup of coffee or something since she didn't have to share the cab. From there, we hit it off." Troy thought back until Kelsi made a comment.

"It's funny how you met both girls that you love in random ways." Kelsi said with a smirk as she glanced out the window and into the busy crowd outside.

"What do you mean Kels?" Troy question.

"Well ok…you met your first love, Gabriella, at a ski lodge during winter break because you both randomly were chosen to sing. You met your second love and wife because of a frustrated scream over a cab. They're both pretty random, you know?" Kelsi expressed as she noticed the thoughtful look on Troy's face as he processed what she had just said.

"You're right. I guess I'm just a random kind of guy."

"That you are because I would've never expected you to end up here in New York. I thought you would have stayed close to Albuquerque to be with Gabriella."

"Yeah, I thought so too…but I don't know what happened Kelsi. I guess we just drifted apart and had different dreams. I would've liked to have stayed there with her after college to try things out again but I knew that if I wanted to make my hopes a reality, I would have to come here and it would've been selfish of me to ask her to come along when I knew she had her life there. I couldn't of lived with myself for that one." Troy confessed.

"But you know she would've gone with you anywhere to try and make it work. Look Troy, I know you guys loved each other a lot and I get that you didn't want to practically make her feel forced to come with you even though she would have done it without any regrets to be with you, but maybe it wasn't the right choice then. I think you should've tried to see things from her point of view. In her eyes, you wouldn't have been selfish for trying to work things out by having her come with you. In fact, I think she would have found it rather sweet and encouraging that you thought there could still be hope."

Troy sat quietly and thought about Kelsi's wise words and pondered upon them.

"It wouldn't matter now though. She's probably off somewhere enjoying her life with another man since I didn't man up. I can't blame her if she is. Besides, I'm married now…not that I regret my marriage because I don't. I do love Pamela and God forgive me for saying this, but I know deep down that I still have feelings for Brie and would love to just see her again and make things work." Troy said regretting the situation from years ago.

Kelsi looked at her friend and noticed his bright blue eyes seemed dulled from the regret that she knew he must have felt at that moment. Before she could say anything, their waitress came and left them their food.

________________________________________________________________________

"Did I seriously have to ask 'what's the worst that could happen?'" asked Gabriella as she remembered the question she asked the week before.

No sooner did they reach Texas, the curly haired man's Explorer caught a flat…in the middle of a deserted road…in the rain.

"Yeah Gabs, did you really have to ask that? The irony of it all…you asked that and something bad happened. Isn't that strange? Taylor, what do you think?" Chad asked as he looked over a Taylor with a confused expression.

"Well, it is strange, that's a fact. But I guess we're going to be stuck here until the rain dies down a bit so you could change the flat. Speaking of the flat, did you bring a spare Chad?" Taylor questioned.

"Indeed I did. I came prepared just in case. In fact, I brought two spares!" he said proudly.

"You guys, maybe this is a sign that Troy wasn't meant to be found. Maybe fate is working against us because maybe there's something about him that isn't right…" Gabriella spoke out her thought.

"Gabby, don't be ridiculous. Anyone could have a flat. We were just unfortunate to get it this soon and in the middle of nowhere. Also, your thoughts are pretty ridiculous. Fate isn't working against us, Mother Nature is. Plus, fate helped us locate Troy quickly, there's a sign that it _is _on our side. Just give it sometime for the rain to calm a bit and Chad will get working on that flat." Taylor said putting on her best reassurance voice.

"Nope, we're not waiting for the rain. We're going to waste a lot of time doing that and by the looks of it; it isn't going to stop anytime soon. Besides, Gabriella is having second thoughts again and I think I should change it before she tries to convince us to turn back." Chad said while grabbing his hooded sweater from the backseat next to Gabriella. He glanced outside as the wheels in his head turned, thinking about how much time he had to change the flat.

"Well? What are you waiting for then?" Taylor questioned.

"Nothing. Ladies, wish me luck!" said Chad while rapidly running out of the car and opening the trunk for the spare and his tools.

"Tay, we're seriously actually truly going to do this, huh?" Gabriella asked her best friend.

"You know it. There's no turning back now." Taylor once again reassured.

Ten minutes later, Chad started to knock on Taylor's window on the passenger side, causing the girls to leap in surprise. He motioned for her to move over into the driver's seat. Once she did, he jumped into the passenger side.

"Taylor, you drive. B-blast the h-h-heaters on me w-will you? I'm so c-c-cold…" Chad shivered as he stammered out his sentence, soaking in his clothes, as the rain seemed to have absorbed him.

"Chad you're drenched! Here, let me get my blanket out of my duffel bag for you." Gabriella offered as she motioned towards he bag and retrieved a blanket, which Chad gratefully accepted.

"Thanks Gab. Alright ladies, I t-think its s-s-safe to hit the open road a-again." He said as he still managed to shiver.

With that, the gang continued on their way through Texas and towards Arkansas.

Hours after the lunch Troy and Kelsi had, he was back at the theater finishing up the last scene of his show. Once it was over and everyone had their final bows, Troy made his way towards his dressing room. He opened his door and noticed a note lying on his vanity. Picking it up, he noticed the handwriting was Pamela's and read it out loud.

_Hey Mr. Broadway!_

_So I came by to leave you this note to tell you that your peformance was spectacular. Yes, I figured I would surprise you and let you know that I was sitting in the audience watching you. You never seem to fail to amaze me with your talent. Meet me at home ASAP because I have another surprise for you. Love you babe!_

_-Pam_

Troy changed his wardrobe into his normal clothing and slipped the paper into the pocket of his jacket.

'I wonder what she has going on for me…' He thought as he walked out the dressing room door.


	3. Chapter 3

That Monday was almost over as the gang noticed that Tuesday was slowly creeping up on them, the three exhausted from their entire day of driving and only one stop to eat.

"Taylor, it's getting late. Maybe we should pull into the nearest town here in Arkansas and get a room for the night. Besides, we're all tired and deserve a rest." Gabriella said as she peeked in between the driver and passenger seats to be greeted by Chad's snoring.

"You're right. By the looks of it, Chad isn't going to be grabbing the wheel and we're both tired. Let's drive in and see what we can find." Taylor said as she scrunched her face when her eyes noticed the trail of drool traveling along Chad's jaw.

The girls couldn't resist the sight and giggled. Gabriella deciding on being mischievous grabbed her camera and took pictures of the young man sleeping.

"This would be perfect for blackmail someday." She stated with a smile. Gabriella pressed the 'review pictures' button on her camera as she silently laughed to herself.

"Yeah, as long as we don't let him find out about those pictures because if he does, I know he'll delete it. Oh look! There's a little motel right there! What do you think Gab?" Taylor asked.

"It's the first one we saw and I'm exhausted. If we drive any longer I just might get carsick. So whatever…let's take it." The brunette said. Taylor pulled into the motel parking lot and looked over at Chad, trying to decide which was the best way to wake him up.

"Perhaps poking him with a stick might work," said Gabriella, as she instantly knew what her best friend was deciding. "If not, we could just leave him here in the car."

"Nah, we just can't leave him here. And although I think the stick idea might work, I'm going to have to resist that urge this time. Let's just shake him." Taylor replied, gripping unto his arm to lightly shake him when Chad suddenly began to stir. Moments later, he opened his eyes and noticed both females staring at him with slight disgust.

"What did I miss? Why are you guys staring at me like that?" he asked groggily. Gabriella gestured towards his chin as he felt his saliva beneath his fingertips. It dawned on him that he was drooling and quickly wiped it off with the sleeve of his shirt. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay, we could have woken you up at a worse state. Anyways, I'm sure you're tired…well obviously if you were asleep but that's not the point. Taylor and I are also a bit tired and we think that its best if we each rest for a few hours before hitting the road again which is why we're in the parking lot of this motel." Gabriella explained slowly knowing that it was necessary since Chad just woke up.

"Fine with me ladies."

"Well then, Gabriella and I will get a room while you grab the suitcases." Taylor stated quickly. Both her and Gabriella rushed out the car before Chad could protest.

Once inside the motel, the girls cringed from its appearance. The lighting was dim and the red carpet was stained from unknown substances. The walls were painted a shade of beige with very few pictures. The receptionist at the other half of the room was practically asleep at her desk, a newspaper beneath her head as she had it down.

"Gabs, are you sure we should take this one? Maybe we could drive further along the road and see our other options." Taylor suggested, looking at Gabriella with unsure eyes.

"Don't worry Tay. This place might look run down and all but I'm sure we'll be fine. So what if this place might give us the creeps? We're only going to be here for a few hours, and besides, we're going to be asleep. Look at it this way; if anything is going to happen, Chad's here to protect us." Gabriella said trying to make her friend feel secure.

"I suppose you're right…" Taylor said still feeling uneasy about the place. The girls walked towards the reception desk and stood there waiting for the young girl behind it to attend them. After about a minute of standing there Taylor became impatient and rang the bell, which scared the young girl awake.

"Jesus! Oh gosh. I'm so sorry. Didn't mean to fall asleep, it's just that I have the late shift and this was the only job I could find to help me out a bit with my college tuition…not like you guys care or need to know. I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry. Well, welcome to Motel Delight. My name is Patricia, how may I assist you?" the receptionist stated in a dull manner. She noticed that the girls seemed to still be processing everything she said but chose to ignore it as she waited for their reply.

"Um, hi. It's nice to meet you. Can we have a room for three please?" Gabriella asked since Taylor seemed a bit taken aback.

"Sure thing miss. Would you like it with one or two beds?"

"Two would be fine." Gabriella figured that her and Taylor could share a bed while Chad slept alone…unless Taylor decided to sleep with him. At that moment, Chad stumbled towards the girls carrying Gabriella's duffle bag and rolling his and Taylor's suitcases in both arms.

"Are you sure you want two? I don't know but it seems like one would be enough for the three of you…don't get me wrong but a lot of folks come here to have a good time, if you know what I mean…"

Chad smirked at the thought of having both Taylor and Gabriella in one bed with him. Taylor looked over at him and noticed his smirk and realized he was having dirty thoughts.

"Chad Danforth, if you don't wipe the stupid smirk off your face, then I'll handle taking it off myself!" Chad removed his smile at Taylor's threat.

"Excuse me, but you have the wrong idea. We're not into that kind of thing. We're just here to sleep and continue on our trip tomorrow, got it?" Gabriella said firmly while glaring into Patricia's eyes.

"Suit yourself lady. You guys have room 105. That will be $100.00." Patricia replied as the girls paid $33 each, leaving Chad to pay $34. "Enjoy your stay. Here is the room key."

Gabriella grabbed the key and grabbed her duffel bag from Chad. She felt sympathy from watching him carry so much. Taylor figured that Chad should man-up and left him to pull hers behind. They made their way through the motel and located their room. Once opening the door, Taylor felt relieved that the room had a better appearance than the lobby.

"See Tay, its not going to be so bad after all." Gabriella stated as she took notice to how the room looked. The carpet was a shade of brown, which contrasted with the teal walls while the sheets on each bed were beige. Between the beds was a night table with a small lamp and alarm clock. Directly in front of the bed by the door, was a table that had an antique styled television with a picture hanging above it. On the other end of the room next to the other bed, was the closet and bathroom.

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm going back to hitting the sack. I'll grab the bed by the bathroom in case you girls want to watch TV before going to bed. Goodnight Gab and Tay." Chad said before pulling the covers back on the bed, not even bothering to change his clothes.

"Alright Chadykins. Goodnight. I'm setting the alarm for 8:30 AM so that gives you a few hours to get that necessary and proper sleep. See you when you wake up." Gabriella said while walking towards the bathroom with her duffel bag in hand to shower.

In the meantime, Taylor watched Chad fall asleep. She was so lost in her thoughts about her previous memories with Chad that she failed to notice that Gabriella came out of the bathroom ten minutes later.

'By the way that she's looking at Chad, anybody could notice that she still feels for him. Taylor's a smart girl and I'm sure she notices how she might be feeling…this trip should be interesting then.' Gabriella silently thought to herself as a smirk spread across her face. Gabriella realized that Taylor's eyes still didn't move off of Chad's sleeping figure so she coughed to catch her friend's attention.

"Bathroom is all yours Tay." Gabriella said still smirking at her friend.

"Oh, um…thanks. I'll be back in a jiff." Taylor replied while rummaging through her suitcase and grabbing the few things that she needed. She knew she was blushing as her mind filled with embarrassment, avoiding Gabriella's gaze.

Gabriella flopped down onto the bed and turned on the television, settling on the news but not paying much mind to it as her mind was elsewhere.

'I wonder if this whole trip was a good idea. I know we're all dying to see Troy but maybe this wasn't the right time. Who knows what's going on with his life right now…maybe he's happier without us. I mean he _did_ decide to go without really saying much to any of us…just that he wanted to fulfill his dream. Oh gosh, I'm so selfish for that remark! Who am I to want Troy to be held back from his future all because of me being selfish for wanting to have stayed and tried to work things out with me? Get a grip Gabriella. What am I going to do if I see him - face to face? What will I say? Would he even want to see me? He hasn't been heard about in so long that I don't even think he wants to be found. Are we just wasting our time then?' she thought of all the possibilities as she couldn't come up with any answers to her own questions.

At that moment, Taylor came back out and studied Gabriella's expression. She noticed her friend was deep in thought and figured it was her questioning this trip…again. Taylor decided to leave the topic alone since she was too tired to even bother.

"I'm off to bed Gabs. Goodnight, see you in a few hours." Taylor said, knocking Gabriella out of her own world and back into reality.

"Yeah, so will I. Goodnight Tay." Gabriella turned off the TV and settled onto her side of the bed and focused her eyes on he ceiling until they slowly drooped into a deep slumber.

Hours later after the girls fell asleep, Chad woke up to use the bathroom. As he switched on the light, his sleepy eyes widened and focused on the floor.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! HELP!" he yelled and ran back into the main room and climbed on top of his bed. The girls shot up from hearing him scream at the top of his lungs, terror in each of their eyes.

"Chad what is it? What happened?" Taylor asked, extremely scared yet confused.

"In the bathroom! A huge water bug! It's so big and disgusting!" he rambled.

"That's it, a _water bug_? Chad, you have got to be kidding me you big baby…" Taylor said as she scoffed at his silliness.

"Well considering that the man here isn't mainly enough to take care of the problem himself, I'll just go handle it so we can go back to sleeping…in peace." Gabriella was the one to take charge as she marched towards the bathroom. Chad noticed the annoyance in Gabriella's tone as she sleepily left him alone with Taylor.

"I'm not that much of a big baby…at least not all the time. I mean, what did you expect, it was huge!" Chad exclaimed trying to justify his actions.

"Chad, it wasn't that big. You can use the bathroom now. I flushed it down the toilet so it's safe…unless you're scared that it survived the flush and worry that it's going to creep back out…" Gabriella teased when she stepped back into the room.

"Ha ha, very funny. Now if you ladies will excuse me, I'm going to handle my business." Chad said while before hopping off the bed and into the bathroom. In the meantime, the girls went back to bed. Chad came out moments later and fell back into his slumber,

Before they knew it, 8:30 AM came and the gang was awoken by the alarm clock. Each of them showered and got ready for the journey ahead before checking out at the receptionist's desk by 9:15 AM.

They stepped into the parking lot and loaded the back of the Explorer with the suitcases. This time, Gabriella decided to drive.

"What do you guys want to have for breakfast before we hit the highway?" she asked while sitting into the drivers seat.

"Let's just find the nearest McDonalds and go through the drive-thru." Chad suggested, looking over towards Taylor so see if she agreed.

Gabriella looked through her rearview mirror and saw Taylor nod her head in agreement as she was sitting in the backseat.

"Mickie D's it is then." Gabriella said as she turned on the ignition and drove out of the parking lot in search of the nearest McDonalds.

Across the US before the night was over, Troy stumbled into the apartment that he shared with Pamela, noticing that the only light that was on was the light of the dining room. Suddenly the aroma of steak hit his nose and he followed it towards the light. Upon stepping into the room, he found Pamela sitting there smiling at his shocked expression of the candlelight dinner that she set up for the two.

"Welcome home my Broadway star!" she said as she got up from her seat and greeted him with a quick peck.

"Wow, this looks great babe! I see you went all out for this surprise dinner, what did I do to deserve this?" Troy asked admiring his wife's work.

"Just by being the greatest husband is more than enough." she replied lovingly. "Have a seat and dig in!"

Troy sat at the seat opposite of his wife and began to devour the delicious meal she made. Once they were both done eating, Pam looked at Troy waiting to bring out another surprise.

"How did you enjoy your dinner?" she asked with hopes of it being good.

"Awesome! I loved it." he sincerely replied.

"Good! Well Troy, since your show has been nothing but a success and you and I are stronger than ever, I'd though I would grace you with yet another surprise…"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Troy, we've discussed kids for awhile now. I know you want children and hopefully in the future we could try…" she said taking in his expression. Troy seemed to have found an interesting spot on the table as he avoided her gaze. Pamela knew Troy wanted to make a family as they have talked about it before, but she wasn't ready for it. She noticed his face become emotionless, his way of trying to hide he was upset.

"But, in the meantime I bought us something that could train us for when we do decide to have kids." She smirked as his head suddenly looked up, confused.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked.

Pamela walked towards the living, leaving Troy sitting there alone and dumbfounded. She appeared again holding a box that was wrapped with paper but had holes in it. She placed it on the table and giggled, as Troy looked a bit scared as the box began to move.

"Open it silly." She ordered. With that said, the young man leaned over the box as his hands tore at the paper. Once opening the lids of the box, a puppy greeted him.

"SURPRISE! He's a Golden Retriever! Troy I would like you to meet the newest addition to our family, our new baby boy named Mugsy!" Pamela said excitedly when Troy lifted Mugsy out of the box and held him. Troy began to admire the puppy's features, taking a liking to his blondish colored hair and tiny ears, with big brown eyes. Looking at the eyes of Mugsy, Troy's mind went to flashback of Gabriella's eyes. 'How did I just compare a dog's eyes to Gabriella's? I know they're the same color but that's just a weird comparison altogether…' he thought to himself.

"Hey there Mugsy, I'm your new daddy. Welcome to the family boy." Troy softly said, caressing the dog's side. "Pam, this is one of the best surprises that you could have given me. I always wanted a Golden Retriever, how did you know?"

"Lucky guess. I'm glad you like him babe", she said and kissed his cheek. "I figured that if I couldn't give you what you wanted right now, then we could at least bring in a new member that would probably be just as much work as a baby."

"You might be right, but I could wait for kids now, besides we would have to now since we have to raise this little fellow." Troy said, not taking his eyes off of the puppy, showing Pamela that he seemed to have gotten attached to Mugsy in such little time.

"You're right about that one. But don't worry Troy, one day we will. Now, go have fun with little mister Mugsy for a bit while I clean this up." She said.

"No sweetie, you cooked and got me a dog. You've done more than enough, I'll get the dishes." Troy protested.

"No, no, no. I'll do it. It's not a big deal at all. Just relax and enjoy the rest of the evening while I take care of everything else here, k?"

"Fine, you win. Thanks again Pam." He said as he gave her a quick yet tender kiss. Still holding onto Mugsy, Troy walked towards the living room and played with his new pet.


	4. Chapter 4

That Tuesday, Troy woke up with a feeling of someone resting on his bare chest. He smiled to himself thinking it was his wife as he opened his eyes, but instead was greeted with the sight of Mugsy. 'I forgot he slept with us…where's Pam?'

As Troy began to move out of the bed, Mugsy sprang up and jumped off along with him. Troy groggily walked out of the bedroom, stopping in the hallways to see if he heard any sounds that clued him to where Pam could be. He didn't hear any peculiar sounds, noting that he was alone. Troy made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shower, leaving Mugsy alone to wander around. Moments later, he left the bathroom with a pair of shorts on and a t-shirt.

"Mugsy! Where are you boy?" Troy called out in search of the pup. As he walked into the kitchen, he found Mugsy sitting next to his bowl. "Hungry, aren't you? So am I." And with that, the young man grabbed a can of puppy chow and dispensed it into the bowl. Afterwards, he started to prepare himself a bowl of cereal. When Troy reached the handle of the refrigerator to retrieve the milk, he noticed a note from Pamela on it.

_Hey babe!_

_Good morning, sorry I couldn't be there when you woke up with Mugsy, I had to get to the office ASAP. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to lunch today honey. I'm sorry for that too…hopefully I'll see you for dinner. I love you! Take care of our little boy before going to the theater. XOXO_

_-Pam_

"Well that explains where she is…" Troy said to himself, releasing a sigh. He began to think to himself as he sat at the dining room table and ate his cereal. 'Pam was amazing for even considering buying us a dog just 'cause she knows how important it is to make a family for me. It's a small step but I'm glad that she's starting to slowly come around. I remember back after graduation when Gabriella and I used to talk about our future. We wanted three kids, a beige two-story home with red shudders and a red door, a white picket fence, and a Golden Retriever. Seems like I got the Golden Retriever down, I'm just missing the house, the kids, and the girl. Wait…where did the last part come from? I already got the girl…just not the girl I had previously thought of spending my future with. I wonder what she's doing now. Does she still think of me? I shouldn't even be questioning that; I'm a married man for crying out loud! _Ugh_, how does she manage to still creep up into your thoughts Bolton? After all these years, for some reason I just can't seem to fully let go. I got to learn how to get a grip sometimes. You'd think that I'd be completely happy with the life I live right now. I mean, I have great friends, I love my job, an amazing wife, and I'm living well…but it just doesn't seem like enough or like it matters much. Speaking of friends, I wonder what's become of Chad. Oh gosh, I'm like the worst friend ever…how did I just abandon him like that? We grew up together and then I leave and don't even keep in contact with him or my family? Not only am I the worst friend, but I'm the _worst_ son!' Troy's thoughts rambled inside his head when the feeling of Mugsy licking his ankle suddenly shook him out of them.

"Hey Mugster, you finished? Good boy!" he playfully said to his dog, watching the dog excitedly wag his tail. "How about we go for a walk?" With that, Troy put his bowl inside the sink and grabbed the leash that was in the box that Mugsy was wrapped in and attached it to his collar. They walked out the apartment and towards Central Park.

Upon their arrival, Troy couldn't help but to smile and reflect on how beautiful the day was. Once again, old memories back from his days in East High flooded back.

It was a warm day during the summer before college in Albuquerque. Troy and Gabriella spent every single day together for they knew it wouldn't be long before it was time for them to try to handle a long distance relationship. They decided to take a private walk together at the park nearby their former high school, embracing their last few weeks.

"_So, summer's almost over Gabs…" Troy said, playing with her fingers that were intertwined with his own._

"_I know, I can't believe how fast it's going by. It's like time is trying to work against us instead of helping us out…like it doesn't want us to be happy. What are we going to do Troy?" Gabriella asked, insecurities getting the best of her._

"_Gabriella, I love you…just know that. No matter how far apart we are, nothing is going to change that, I promise. We've been through a lot together and I'm not giving you up that easily, not now. We just got to work at it like we do on other things. Think of it as an extra credit homework assignment for our relationship, we're already happy and strong but this will only make us stronger. We'll be ok…we'll survive it, and if we don't then I'm at least glad that you're apart of my life." He said with all sincerity, his eyes gleaming with nothing but passionate love for the young lady he was gazing down on. His eyes lingered on the way her wavy hair shined in the sunlight, her bright brown eyes reflecting the love that he had in his own. He admired the way the right corner of her mouth suddenly turned upwards and he knew that she was satisfied._

"_Troy, you mean the world to me. I'm glad you have faith in what we have, what we are, and who we will become. I want to cherish every moment of my life with you and even though you won't physically be there during college, you will still and always be right here…" Gabriella motioned towards her heart with her free hand, "And I don't ever want to let you go Troy. My heart wouldn't be able to stand it if we couldn't make it through and I appreciate that you want to give this whole distance thing a try just as much as I do. I love you Wildcat." Her eyes becoming wet for she had tears that she wouldn't allow to fall._

_Troy pulled Gabriella into a tight embrace as he whispered in her ear, "It doesn't have to end…not unless we let it and neither of us are willing to. We're going to be fine Gabbi, don't you worry about a thing." He slightly pulled back to stare into her eyes, seeing that she felt secure by his words. Gabriella's eyes traveled from the blue orbs staring at her down to the lips that possessed the guy that she loved. She stepped up onto the very tips of her toes and captured his lips with her own. Troy allowed her tongue to slip in between as she glided it along his bottom lip, urging for entrance as they were caught up in a heatedly passionate kiss. Moments later, Gabriella stepped down from her toes breaking their slight make out as Troy leaned his forehead against hers. She giggled as he whimpered from her stopping their tongue action but not minding much since he didn't want anything more but to just be within her company._

"Hello! Earth to Troy!!!" Kelsi yelled trying to catch her friend's attention. At that moment, Troy blinked his eyes several times as he suddenly realized that he was so caught up in his daydream that he didn't notice Kelsi in front of him.

"Sorry Kels. Fancy running into you here. I see you're walking Hannah and by the way, speaking of walking, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Bolton clan. This is Mugsy." Troy said playfully trying to avoid the gaze she was giving him, knowing that she might've had a clue as to what he was thinking about just because she knew him that well.

"Nice to meet you Mugsy. Troy, he's absolutely gorgeous. When did you get him?" Kelsi asked, deciding to dismiss her thoughts and figuring that she'll interrogate Troy later.

"Last night actually, Pam bought him for us as her way of avoiding kids…again. You already know the story…" Troy drifted his words off since Kelsi understood their situation.

"Oh, well at least she's putting some kind of effort into raising something. That's got to mean a lot to you, doesn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it does mean a lot to me. It was actually pretty thoughtful of her to do so you know?" Troy replied. He and Kelsi started to walk along the endless path that circled different parts of the park and connected to other paths to take. They stopped every once in awhile to allow their dogs to do their business and continued on their walk, conversing different topics.

"Nah, I think the Yankees will totally beat the Red Sox next season. You just wait and see Mr. Bolton, you just wait!" Kelsi said as she poked his chest with her index finger.

"Whatever you say Kels, whatever you say…" Troy simply replied while chuckling at her statement. "So how are you and Patrick?"

"We're good actually. He's working right now and we have plans to spend the night in with some popcorn and a movie after the last show of tonight." Kelsi answered, a small smile gracing her face at the thought of it.

"That's awesome. I'm happy for you Kelsi, I really am. I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy and I hope he continues to because you're a great girl and he seems like a great guy." The former basketball player said to his old friend.

"Thank Troy, that was really sweet of you. Hey, you should be happy too. I mean, you must be if you are married to the woman…" Kelsi said studying Troy's face to see a reaction.

"I suppose I am…Kelsi, can I be honest with you?" Troy stopped walking and faced her, not speaking until she nodded her head for him to go on. "For some reason, today I've been thinking about Gabriella a lot more than normal. I mean the day did just start a few hours ago and it's not even noon yet, but she's crept into my mind quite a few times already."

"Look Troy, that's understandable…you never really get over or forget your first love, which is what she is. It's like what my grandma used to tell me, 'The first person to possess your heart is the one to truly possess it for all eternity'. In your case, it seems true." Kelsi replied, letting her words process into Troy's mind as he looked away. He thought about the quote Kelsi just told him and couldn't help but to feel slight regret as he thought about its truth.

"Yeah but she's not supposed to anymore, Pam has to. I mean I guess I never truly got over Gabbi considering that we didn't leave with any closure of the situation, but I just thought that after all these years that the feelings would've drifted away." Troy admitted, feeling guilty that he felt this way while he was with another.

"Sometimes the true feelings and the memories that you have aren't meant to drift away. I know it's not easy to accept because you're married and you don't want to hurt Pam in any kind of way. But you can't help but to feel the way that you feel and you have to accept that. Perhaps the closure would've helped but there isn't much you can do now. Just don't pay much mind to what your heart tells you and follow your head this time. Following your heart in this situation isn't going to get you anywhere." She wisely advised.

"Thanks Kelsi. I appreciate the words of wisdom and the advice. I guess you're right this time and I'm just going to have to really listen to my head because like you said, my heart isn't going to get me anywhere right now." Troy said thinking everything through.

"We better get going, first show of the day starts in about two and a half hours. See you there?" Kelsi asked.

"Bet on it."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pamela's Office

Pam walked into her office exhaustedly and sat in her chair releasing a sigh. She sprawled her papers out across her desk and absent-mindedly looked at them. Seeing that her work didn't catch her interest at the moment, she looked at the wedding band on her ring finger and began to hum. Seconds later, a knock was at the door.

"Come in!" She called out.

"Pam baby, there seems to be a client that has to see you. He say's its urgent…" said her assistant, Lance, a smirk forming on his lips as stared at her with desire.

"Oh really? Is their name Lance?" she replied with a smirk of her own, deciding to play along with his game.

"Perhaps, he says he's been dying to see you all morning since you've been occupied." Lance said while walking towards her to front of her desk, leaning his hands on either side as he stood above her.

"Yeah well I'm glad that he was at least patient enough to wait 'til we could be alone before interrupting me in one of my meetings. So, now that he seems to have me all to himself for the next hour, what shall we do?" Pam stood up from her chair behind the desk to meet his stature from the other side, leaning in dangerously close to his face.

"Well, I had some of this in mind…" Lance launched forward and caught Pamela's lips in a rough kiss. She decided to take his challenge and force her lips harder onto his until he broke it to move around the desk and stand directly in front of her, placing his lips over hers once again.

Throughout the kiss, Pamela moved her fingers towards her wedding ring and removed it from her hand and throwing it behind her shoulder. She stifled a moan as Lance's hands roamed her body, causing pleasure to accelerate.

This was one lunch break that she wasn't sharing with her husband.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

***Gasp* So, Pam is having an affair with her assistant at her office and Troy has no clue…drama? I think so.**

**This chapter was just a filler and just to prepare future drama to happen later on. Liked it? Thoughts and opinions are appreciated! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Author's Note: If anyone feels lost as to what day it is now according to the story, its Wednesday…everything that happened between Lance and Pam was going on while Troy was at the park with Kelsi. This next chapter is about everything that's happening at that same exact moment and day but with Gabriella, Taylor, and Chad._**

Chad continued driving the rest of the way as they were in the middle of North Carolina. Gabriella couldn't help but notice how Chad would look at Taylor through the rear-view mirror every other minute. She smirked as she heard Taylor giving a sigh from the backseat. 'They might as well just get together already…the three of us know that they want to, so why do they deny the chemistry that's still there?' Gabriella thought to herself.

"So Chad, tell me about your family since we are staying the night there. I want to know as much as I can before meeting them." Gabriella said.

"Well, they're pretty awesome and fun…. oh, and they're loud. Basically they're extremely friendly people that like to have a good time. It's never boring with them, and if it is then it must be because someone died or something tragic. By the way, thanks again guys…you guys didn't have to agree to see my family. I really do appreciate it." Chad stated knowingly.

"Don't thank us Chad. We should be thanking you! If it weren't for you mentioning that you have family in North Carolina that you haven't seen in awhile, we would've kept on driving until we found another hotel. Now, we can just relax and have some country fun – for free. Besides, it would be nice to meet your family since you know a lot of ours." Taylor spoke up with a smile, reassuring Chad that she and Gabriella didn't mind.

"Thanks Tay, and you too Gabs. Well, we're almost there, just another ten minutes or so and we'll be there in time for the BBQ my ant Jenny told me she would be throwing for us." Chad said, smiling all the while at the thought of food.

"That was really sweet of her, by the way. It really isn't necessary for her to do all of that…"Gabriella said feeling sort of embarrassed and bad.

"Yeah but my family is just like that. They like opening up their homes with open arms to guests and you guys are special guests. Besides, its all part of the southern hospitality." Chad remarked.

The three sat quietly as 'If I Ain't Got You' by Alicia Keys began to play on the local radio station. As Gabriella's ears began to listen to the words, she lost herself in her train of thoughts of a specific blue-eyed man.

_Some people live for the fortune _

_Some people live just for the fame _

_Some people live for the power, yeah _

_Some people live just to play the game _

_Some people think that the physical things define what's within _

_And I been there before but that life's a bore, so full of the superficial _

'It makes me wonder what do I live for exactly? Do I live for my job? Do I live to help support my mother during her older years? What's my reason for living? I believe I live to love and to share that with someone special. Who could possibly be my special someone? Back in high school my heart belonged to Troy Bolton…those were the years. Did I mean anything to him at all after we separated during college? Did he hurt just as much if not more than I did? Did he care? I can't believe I just questioned if he cared! I'm sure he did…he's Troy…but it felt like he didn't when he just left Albuquerque.'

_Some people want it all, but I don't want nothing at all _

_If it ain't you baby, if I ain't got you baby _

_Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything _

_But everything means nothing if I ain't got you, yeah _

_Some people search for a fountain _

_The promise is forever young _

_Some people need three dozen roses _

_And that's the only way to prove you love them _

_Hand me the world on a silver platter _

_And what good would it be _

_With no-one to share with, no-one who truly cares for me_

'This Alicia woman really knows how to hit the lyrics to a special place in me today. I remember when Troy promised that him and me would always be, no matter what. That was a special day but I guess that sometimes promises are meant to be broken although Troy was a firm believer of not making a promise that you couldn't keep. So what happened then? Who knows? I never needed anything special to have him prove that he loved me; just him being around all the time was enough for me to know. He always had the simplest way of making me laugh and smile…I always felt so special with him. If only I could turn back time to that night when we spoke on the phone and broke things off; wait, not even. I would rather turn it back to when we were picking out colleges. If I would've known that our fate relied on our distance, I would have picked somewhere much closer even if my mom didn't plan for me to go there. Ugh, I'm still hung up over the guy…can't believe this! I can't even deny that to myself at all. I still have feelings for Troy Bolton and still have faith that he's my other half. Why haven't I ever realized this sooner? Oh yeah, its because you've been too busy in denial about it and sticking up with your pride about not having feelings for the man you loved that left.'

_Some people want it all, but I don't want nothing at all _

_If it ain't you baby, if I ain't got you baby _

_Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything _

_But everything means nothing if I ain't got you, you, you _

_Some people want it all, but I don't want nothing at all _

_If it ain't you baby, if I ain't got you baby _

_Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything _

_But everything means nothing if I ain't got you, yeah _

_If I ain't got you with me baby, ohh, ooo _

_Say nothing in this whole wide world don't mean a thing _

_If I ain't got you with me baby_

'I think I need a hug…'

Just as the song finished, Chad pulled into the driveway of his family's home and honked the horn to announce their arrival. Almost as if on cue, his aunt Jenny opened the front door and ran out with a full smile on her face.

"Chad, sweetheart! You finally made it! I was starting to get worried that you forgot how to get here and gotten yourself lost! Oh, where are my manners? Hello, my name is Jennifer but you can call Jen or Jenny. You must be Gabriella…and you young lady must be Taylor! I've heard so much about the both of you!" Jenny exclaimed as she embraced each of them while Gabriella and Taylor felt amused by her excitement. "Come on in, let me introduce you both to the rest of the family. Chad, bring the suitcases in and just leave them in the living room for now."

Chad put on a confused yet hurt expression that his aunt was already ordering him around…just like the girls have been doing most of the road trip. The young ladies followed the semi-elderly woman into the house and walked through the back door in the kitchen into the patio where the barbecue was being held.

"Alright girls, this is my husband Howard, my oldest son Neil, my daughter Felicia, and my youngest son Derrick. Over here are my cousins Rodney, Lucille, Donna, and Kevin. This is Donna's son Ivan…" the girls followed her all around the backyard as she introduced them all to the enormous family. Moments later, Chad stepped outside and was greeted by numerous amounts of hugs from his family. Taylor and Gabriella watched at the sight and felt the happiness being passed around.

The crew was having so much fun that the barbecue was over before they knew it. Once it was over, Chad, Gabriella, Taylor and Jenny's children all pitched in to clean the mess that was in the backyard. When they finished, everyone walked inside and plopped down onto the extremely comfortable sofas.

"Alright everyone, settle down", Jenny said as she spoke up to quiet down the younger group of people, "Chaddy-boo, you are going to bunk in Derrick's room for the night in Neil's former bed since Neil moved out last month. Taylor and Gabriella, you ladies will have the guestroom down the hall to the left. You have your own bathroom in there and I already put in some fresh towels for you girls. Now, if you all will excuse me, I'm going to hit the sack…it was nice meeting you both. Felicia and Neil, lock the front door on your way out. Don't stay up late now ya'll, I'll see everyone in the morning." Jenny said as she exited out the living room and went upstairs to her bedroom.

"Your aunt is absolutely delightful Chad! She's even better than you described!" Gabriella said sincerely.

"Thanks…I told you she was great." Chad said back.

"Well, it's getting late so I think it's best if Neil and I get going. Besides, the three of you have to wake up early to continue on whatever it is that you guys are doing. It was nice to meet the both of you." Felicia said while walking towards the girls to bid her goodbye.

"The pleasure was ours. It was great to meet you guys." Taylor spoke with a smile. Neil and Felicia left the house, locking the door behind as they promised.

"I'm going to the guestroom Tay. Going to try to see if I could get in contact with my secretary and see how things are going at the magazine without me. If you guys need me, that's where I'll be." Gabriella said, grabbing her cell phone and suitcase as she disappeared down the hallway and into the room.

"So I guess that just leaves us, Taylor." Chad said after the few seconds of silence.

"Guess so, Danforth…or should I say 'Chaddy-boo?'" Taylor replied while stifling her laughter.

"Hey, don't even go there. Besides, she's my aunt and most families have loving yet ridiculous nicknames for everyone. Like the time I met your family way back then, they used to call you Tayluli and trust me when I say this, I will blackmail you with that." He said while pointing at her to exaggerate his point but started to smirk as Taylor scoffed.

"Whatever you say Chad…I'll leave you to believe that you're smart enough to blackmail someone." Taylor challenged while quirking her eyebrow. Before he could answer back, Taylor got up from the sofa and headed towards the guestroom with her suitcase in hand. Chad sat there confused as to why she left but deciding to leave it alone and concluded that women were the most confusing species.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So, that's the infamous Taylor, huh?" questioned Derrick.

"Yeah that's her. Why?" Chad asked suspiciously.

"Well everyone knows that you used to date her. Why else do you think the family seemed to have been even nicer to her than Gabriella? Besides, we all saw how the two of you kept sneaking glances at each other all day." Derrick confirmed while looking at his cousins face turn from being confused to suddenly in shock.

"Was it that obvious?" The curly-haired man asked.

"You have no idea. You still like her, don't you?" Derrick asked back.

"I don't know man…like I know that she holds a special place in my heart but I'm not sure if it's the same soft spot as before. You understand what I mean?" Chad looked towards his cousin and studied his facial expression to let him know if he understood but saw nothing but a blank face.

"Nope…not exactly," replied the country boy.

"Okay, like I don't know if that spot she's holding in my heart is because I still like or love her, or because she's just always been there and is a special friend to me." Chad explained.

"But maybe that's just it, Chad. Maybe you still love her just because she has always been there but you're confused about it because you guys are just 'friends' for now." Derrick stated back.

"You know something, for someone who is only seventeen, you're pretty smart about this stuff." Chad said with a smirk.

"It's all about studying the ladies…" Derrick said with a smirk of his own.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So…Gabriella, are you nervous about this journey so far?" Taylor asked her bestfriend.

"Are you kidding me? I've been nervous since I drove from California all the way down to New Mexico for this. This whole thing seems pretty surreal to me…like if I were dreaming this."

"Well you're not so snap out of it. This is really happening Gabbi…we're finally finding Troy and we're really here in Chad's aunt's house." Taylor replied.

"Tay, what do you think it's going to be like when we see him?" questioned Gabriella.

"Honestly, I don't know. We could only hope he's the same Troy as before or that he at least didn't change much." She replied while walking towards the vanity and grabbing her comb to brush her hair before sleeping.

"I hope he's everything that I remembered him to be…kind, sweet, funny, handsome, smart, sexy, considerate, trustwo-" suddenly Gabriella stopped at the sound of her friend's voice.

"Alright Gabriella, I think I get it." Taylor said cutting her off. Silenced filled the room again for a few seconds before Gabriella spoke up again.

"How do I know we're doing the right thing with all of this?" she asked looking towards Taylor, hoping in the back of her mind that Taylor had the answer.

"That's just it though. We don't know if we are or aren't doing the right thing, but we'll find out within time. That's the pure adventure and thrill of this whole trip!" exclaimed Taylor.

"I suppose you're right. Ugh, all this thinking is giving me a headache! I think I'm going to bed. Goodnight Taylor." Gabriella said as she turned off the lamp beside her on the night table.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was nearly midnight when Troy walked into his shared apartment. Mugsy rushed towards him, yearning to be petted. Troy reach down and picked up his dog as he began to caress his side.

"Pam baby, I'm home!" he called out but didn't hear a reply. He checked the kitchen and bathroom but found nothing. He crept near his bedroom and suddenly stopped in his tracks as he overheard Pamela talking on her cell phone to someone.

"Of course he still doesn't have a clue…No, no, no. Not at all…It'll all work out in my favor…he's totally wrapped…I got to go, the husband should be here any minute now. See you tomorrow?…Perfect!…You too, bye." Pamela spoke, oblivious to Troy standing outside the door in the hall. As she walked towards the door, she jumped back and yelped from the surprise of him standing there with Mugsy. "Troy! Sweetheart don't scare me like that! When did you get in?"

"I'm sorry babe, didn't mean to frighten you there. I actually just got in about two minutes ago. By the way, who we're you talking to?" he asked.

"Oh, um…uh…my mom! Yeah, she called me to check up on how we were doing and whatnot." Pamela lied. "Are you hungry? I think I'm hungry. How about I heat up some pizza?" she said as she rushed passed him and towards the kitchen. Troy stood there alone and confused for a moment while still holding onto Mugsy.

'That's odd for Pam's mom to be calling this late.' he thought but let the subject go although he didn't understand Pamela's sudden unusual behavior.


	6. Chapter 6

It was now Thursday and the gang had woken up to the smell of fresh blueberry pancakes. They washed up in time for the breakfast to be done. Right after they took their last potty break before they all gathered outside on the front porch.

"So we'll try to stop by again on our way down. Thanks again for everything Aunt Jenny." Chad said as he embraced his ant in a tight hug.

"Need to thank me, you're family! Besides, I haven't seen you since your graduation, it was the least I could've done!" She exclaimed once she pulled back and smiled as she spoke.

"Well thank you Jenny for welcoming us into your lovely home." Taylor said as she and Gabriella also hugged her.

"Thanks for the hospitality. We really appreciated it!" Gabriella said before the threesome walked towards the Explorer, which already had the suitcases inside.

"Ya'll come back now!" Jenny called out from the porch as the all got into the vehicle.

"Bye aunt Jenny…send my love to uncle Howard for me, will you?" He waved his final goodbye as his aunt nodded her head in agreement. With that Chad turned on the ignition and drove out of the driveway, making their way to the highway.

"Well, according to the map, our next state should be Virginia," stated Taylor from the passenger seat, "Chad are you sure you want to drive? You've been driving most of the road trip, Gabs and I won't mind taking the wheel for a bit…"

"Nah, its ok, really. You ladies just sit back, relax, listen to the radio, and enjoy the open road."

"Well if that case, could you turn up the radio please? I love the song playing!" Gabriella said as she squeal while Taylor turned the music up loader, noting that it was 'Keep's Getting Better' by Christina Aguilera. Both girls began to sing as Chad made a face.

"You guy's got to be kidding me! What kind of bizarre lyri-"

"Chad Danforth, don't even go there! This song has a great beat and it speaks some truth about every female not only as a individual but at the common trait we all share. Some days we are super bitches and then we can become your super girl the next. Those simple words speak a lot that men don't understand…us females wouldn't be so confusing if you guys just paid attention to the little details!" Gabriella defended while Taylor smirked on, backing Gabriella up while she nodded.

"Well excuse me, Ms. Sudden Lawyer. Didn't mean to offend you there…gosh." Chad said with a scoff.

"Hmm! Since you think this music is bizarre, what do you prefer then? Huh?" Gabriella challenged as Chad looked through the rearview mirror and stared at her for a quick second.

He narrowed his eyes as he took another look at her and said, "I'll take that challenge!"

His right hand reached out for the radio, his fingers fumbling with the buttons to find a song he would normally enjoy. He grinned when he found something that met his standards and turned the radio up even louder, the girls putting on a disgusted expression from the lyrics of 'Sexy Can I?' by Ray J.

"Chad, those lyrics are just _sexual_ and _demeaning_ to women. It's just about screwing her just because she looks good. Ugh…men…" Gabriella said over the music.

"Sorry Chad, but Gabbi's right. As the self proclaimed judge of this battle, Gabriella wins this round!" Taylor said as she turned the volume down.

"No fair! She just wins because she's a girl!" the young man said disbelievingly. Gabriella gloated from the backseat, boasting it in Chad's face that he was the loser.

"Get over it _Danforth_. I won fair and square so don't be such a sore loser!" The brunette replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"Fine then! Lets move on to round two _Montez_…" he said back, this time with more determination to win.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Before Troy left for the theater, he called his wife Pamela on the phone since they wouldn't be meeting for lunch yet again.

"Yeah baby…I've barely seen you for the past few days…I know you're busy but I want tonight to be different…No, not dinner…maybe a movie and some junk food? Like old times…okay…no it's fine, I understand…I'll talk to you later…Love you too. Bye." He hung up the phone since Pam had to get back to work, contemplating what movie to rent for the evening.

'Oh well…I'll figure it out later then. Let's see, Mugsy has been walked and fed, I already ate, my keys are in my pocket, cell phone is in my hand…what else am I missing?' Troy looked around him to see if there was anything left and realized that he was prepared to head out.

"Bye Mugsy! Off to work daddy goes…" He called out before closing and locking the apartment door.

Troy strolled towards his car in the parking lot and saw a petite brunette with long wavy hair on the other side of the lot. He stared at her slender frame and couldn't help but wonder if that was a vision of the female from his past.

'Nah, that cant be her, can it? What would she be doing in New York anyway?' He questioned himself. 'Its possible that she could be here, it's a small world after all, right?'

He was about to walk in her direction to get a better view but stopped when she turned around and he got a better look at her, noting that it wasn't the one he thought it would've been. 'Get a grip Bolton!'

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Pamela sat at her desk as while Lance sat on a chair in front of her, massaging her feet.

"Why are you still with the guy, Pam? It's not like you seriously love him if you're just playing him…" Lance asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"I do love Troy but its not enough for me to stay faithful to the guy. Its like the saying 'I love you but I'm not in love with you' except I sort of feel something but its not much. Besides, I'm in it because he's a star. He's on _Broadway_ and we know that once the right people take a good look at him, he's going to be huge. I'm waiting for that, and then I could leave this exhausting job and stay home all day while he brings in the bacon. See where I'm going with this, _Lancy-bear_?"

"Ahh, I do. Smart moves Pam, _smart moves_…"

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"I spy with my little eyes, something…BLUE!" said Gabriella from the backseat. The gang changed their car game every so often to keep themselves entertained.

"The Corolla driving beside us?" Taylor guessed.

"Nope…Chad, what do you think it is?" Gabriella replied.

"The sign that we just passed that said 'Intersection 415'?" asked Chad.

"Nope, you both lost! I won! The answer is: _The sky_." She said almost sarcastically since no one could guess the easy answer.

"You're kidding me right? The sky?! How did we not guess that?" Taylor asked disbelievingly.

"We were just outsmarted by Ms. Montez, Tay." Chad said with a chuckle and shook his head. "You know something? If you guys take a nap and we rotate who drives every so often, we could be in New York by lets say, I don't know, maybe seven more hours?" Chad said as he briefly looked over at Taylor as she thought out his proposition.

"Well it's only three o'clock right now. I think you might be right since we're practically almost in Pennsylvania. Sound's like a good idea to me!" Taylor said, agreeing with Chad. "What do you think, Gabbi?"

"Sounds fine with me too. Besides, the sooner we get there, the more time we get to be tourists! I'm dying to see The Statue of Liberty!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Not to mention that we'll get to see Bolton too. Cant wait to see that punk…boy will he be surprised when he sees us. You know, I would of thought that Sharpay or Ryan would've been the one on Broadway, not Troy." Chad thought aloud.

"Yeah, but Sharpay surprisingly eloped with her garden boy, remember? What was his name again? Sergio…Dominique…no, those weren't it…Oh! Xavier! That was it!" Taylor reminded everyone of what happened on Sharpay's behalf. "As for Ryan, didn't he become a gay porn producer?"

"Yeah, I think he did. Who didn't see that one coming?" Chad giggled from Gabriella's question.

"True. Well anyways, I suggest you ladies get napped up because in about another hour or so, one of you will be grabbing the wheel." Chad suggested with a firm tone.

"Alright Father Chad. As you wish. If you, I could actually drive now while you rest. Tay could stay awake with me so it wouldn't be so silent." Gabriella replied, showing how considerate she could be.

"Will you? That would be great actually. Let me just pull into the gas station coming up so we could fill the tank and buy some goodies since we ain't stopping." He said as they drove for another minute before reaching the gas station on the highway.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So yea Kels, the girl looked exactly looked Gabriella from behind, it was weird." Troy explained the event from earlier that day to Kelsi, after the first show of the day was done.

"Ironic I guess. Maybe it's a sign." She simply replied.

"A sign? What kind of sign? What could that _possibly_ represent?" He looked over at her confused.

"I don't know, maybe it means that she's still somewhere out there for you…or that maybe she's always going to be there for you." Kelsi replied with seriousness in her voice. Troy seemed to have been thinking about her answer when he finally spoke up moments later.

"Perhaps, but fate wouldn't bring her out of the blue out of nowhere, would it? Especially now when its not like I could be with her…"

Little did Troy know, fate was doing just that.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gabriella drove along the highway while Taylor munched on one of the goodies they bought and while Chad slept in the backseat.

"Tay, you were right about what you said the other night. I'm still nervous about this whole thing but kind of excited. This whole experience is actually thrilling and spontaneous…Thanks for pushing me to go through with this." Gabriella said sincerely as she heard Taylor 'Awwing' at her. "Shutup Tay! I'm serious…thanks."

"No problem Gabs. It's my job as your best friend to push you to limits that you didn't think possible, and this was one of them. There really is no need to thank me, thank yourself for actually agreeing to this." The passenger replied.

"I guess so. So, we're officially in Pennsylvania. What state is after this Tay?" the driving brunette asked.

"According to the map, we just have to go through New Jersey, and then we'll be entering New York! Gosh, almost a weeks worth of driving all the way from New Mexico." Taylor said while exaggerating an exhausted sigh.

"Speak for yourself, I came from California."

"Oh yeah, cant forget that. Want some water?" Taylor asked as she pulled out a water bottle from the plastic bag on her lap.

"No thanks, I'm good for now…" Gabriella replied.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Alright babe…talk to you later, got to go get ready 'cause the next show is about to begin…Love you too. Bye." Troy hung up the phone on his wife as he walked towards his dressing room, contemplating a specific brunette.

'Why cant I seem to get her off my mind lately? I know she normally pops up into my head but it's never this often. Gabriella is a part of the previous years of my life, so what role does she play now? The role of a distant memory? Or is it the role of a former flame…more like first love? I'm so confused!!! UGH! Maybe it's from the how Pam has been lacking lately. Yeah, that's all it is. Since my current love hasn't been around much, I keep thinking back on my first. Why didn't I stay and try to make things work, even after I promised her that…I'm such an asshole for that one. I wonder what it would be like if we saw each other now, would she hate me? Does she forgive me? It doesn't matter now…' he thought while he got dressed in his first stage outfit.

"Mr. Bolton…The curtain will be up in ten…the stage manager wants you front and center as of now." One of the crewmembers said as he peeked his head into the doorway.

"No Problem Steve…I'll be out now."

'I guess its show time…'

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**So this is the shortest chapter I have written so far...stay tuned for the next one, the gang is finally making it to New York!**

**REVIEW IT PEOPLE! **


	7. Chapter 7

"So I rented the movie '_Rent' _for our viewing pleasure for this evening." Troy said as he handed to case of the DVD to Pam while he slid the disk into the DVD player.

"Sounds good to me babes. Now you get you're cute butt over here and lets just enjoy the night together, k?" Pam snuggled closer to Troy once he sat down beside her on the loveseat. With the remote in hand, Troy pressed play as they both intently began to watch the movie. An hour into it, Troy turned his attention off the scene that was playing and looked down at his wife, only to see her asleep.

'So much for a special evening…how come these movie nights work out for Kelsi and not for me? Oh well, better play the role of a good husband and take the misses off to the bedroom." Troy contemplated what would be the best way to get Pam off him without her waking up. He slowly slid her off his body and got off the sofa, then placed his right arm beneath her legs and his left arm under her head. He walked towards the bedroom and lightly kicked the door open and placed her on the bed, grabbing a sheet from the hallway closet afterwards to place it upon still figure. He then leaned down and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

Troy wasn't sleepy yet.

He walked back into the living room, deciding to watch the rest of the movie. As he walked in, he saw Mugsy had replaced Pam's spot on the loveseat. Troy chuckled to himself as he sat down next to his pet…or son.

As he continued watching the movie, he eventually followed Pam's lead and drifted off into a deep slumber with Mugsy right by his side.

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"So Gabs, Welcome to New York City! The place where dreams come true and the new home of Albuquerque's, Troy Bolton!" Taylor exclaimed with a squeal as she and Gabriella stared out the windows since they were stuck in traffic in Times Square. They looked amazed at the bright lights that surrounded the city, snapping pictures at what they could simply describe as beautiful. Since Taylor was the one behind the wheel now, she told Gabriella to wake up Chad who was still asleep in the back seat.

"Chad…Chad…CHAD!" the petite yet feisty brunette yelled, scaring the young man awake.

"God Damnit! What?" he asked while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Look!" she simply instructed as she nodded her head towards the window.

"Whoa…so this is it, huh? We're really here. New York City, the west siders have arrived!" Chad said, his eyes widening with every look out the window and onto the streets.

"Guys, it's basically midnight…we need to find a hotel ASAP…" Taylor said, pleading for them to agree since she was just too tired.

"Yeah you're right…we need to just finally chillax if we plan on seeing Troy tomorrow…or looking for him." Chad replied.

The gang stopped at a hotel down the street and parked in its indoor parking lot. Once Taylor turned off the ignition, she looked over at Gabriella and noticed that she looked pale.

"Gabs? What's wrong?" she questioned. Chad poked his curly head from in between the passenger and drivers seat to look at Gabriella and also noticed that she didn't look well.

"I don't know if I can go through with this guys…I mean, through with tomorrow. I'm scared…", she began to speak, avoiding their eyes, "This is just to hard…I managed to hide my feelings for him over the years and I admit, I wasn't always successful at it but I don't know if I could handle them resurfacing…not now. I don't know how to deal with seeing him again."

Taylor and Chad sat quietly after Gabriella's confession until Chad spoke up.

"Listen here Gabriella, we didn't come all this way for nothing. If you're nervous that you're not pretty enough to see him, take it from a guy, meaning me…you're beautiful. If you think Troy isn't going to feel weak in the knees seeing you again, then you're crazy. Troy was madly in love with you and I should know that better than anyone else. Love like that doesn't just fade away…I know you still feel something for that punk of wildcat and I'm sure he still feels something deep down for you…you were his only weakness Gabs…" he looked her in the eyes as he spoke, hoping to send off his true vibe to her to make her understand.

"Thanks Chad. That was sweet of you…. really, it was. I hope you're right. Well then, lets just go inside so we can try to make the best of what's to come. What do you guys say?" Gabriella questioned.

"I'm down." Taylor and Chad replied simultaneously, causing the three to giggle. They made their way into the lobby of the hotel and asked for a room. They each paid their half and took the elevator up to their floor and headed to their room for a goodnight's rest.

They had a big day ahead of them.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_"Gabriella, we don't have to do this…" Troy said, looking down at the girl laying beneath him._

"_Troy, I love you. I want to do this…you're special to me and I'm willing and happy to let you be my first…" she replied back. Gabriella's heart began to race as Troy smiled down at her as he lowered his head to her neck._

"_As you wish…"_

_Troy lightly sucked on the spot that he knew she was most sensitive and caressed it with the tip of his tongue. She gasped at the sensation it brought her, tingling her body. Her breathing became abnormal as he lowered his kisses down to the area between her breasts. He smirked against her skin while his eyes looked in her direction, pleased to see that he was the one driving her insane. Without any caution, Troy lifted his mouth and moved it towards her right nipple, caressing the left one with his left hand. _

_All thoughts of anything important left Gabriella's mind as the feelings Troy was giving her took over all control. She let out a loud moan when Troy bit down against her, soothing it when he removed his mouth and blew air at it._

"_Troy…more…" that was all Gabriella was capable of letting out as Troy's mouth moved lower against her frame. He kissed her lower stomache before his head drifted further down. _

_The petite brunette suddenly arched her back as his tongue found her core. She stifled a moan as his tongue teased her sensitive area. He circled her vagina with the tip of his tongue while his thumb worked an up and down motion against her clitoris. He smiled to himself as her breathing became rapid and her head began to thrashed from side to side. Within seconds he had her on a high, her body shaking from the orgasm. _

_He licked what was left of her sweet juices and moved his body back up towards her, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss._

"_Troy…I want…you…" Gabriella panted, staring at him with lust filled eyes. He gave her questioning eyes as if asking if she was sure and continued once she nodded._

_Since Troy was already in between her legs, he let the tip of his erection caress the lips of her opening. Once again, Gabriella felt as though she couldn't breathe from the excitement. Troy had been waiting for the moment to make love to her since they started to practice sexual acts on each other. The time had finally arrived and he was sure to make the best of it._

_Slowly, he lowered himself at her entrance, letting the tip sink in. He stopped, waiting for Gabriella to assure him that it was alright to go on. Once she did, he sunk in a bit further, watching her bite her lip as an attempt to not yelp at the pain. Tear's appeared on the corners of her closed eyes and Troy couldn't help but to feel a bit guilty since the pain was from him. He kissed away the wet droplets from her cheeks as he let himself move in a little more, almost all the way inside._

_Figuring that that was enough to put in for now, he slowly pulled himself out. He repeated his actions as if in slow motion so that his girlfriend could adjust herself to it. Once she started slightly started to pant for air, Troy knew that she was more than alright to continue at a quicker pace. Speeding up slightly, he continued to pound in and out of her tight entrance. Gabriella moaning with each thrust, while Troy tried to focus his eyes on Gabriella's face._

"_Baby, open your eyes." He demanded._

_Gabriella's lids slowly rose a bit as she continued to breathe heavily. "Troy…don't…stop…more…please…"_

_He moved his hips even faster as she moved her hips in time with his thrusts. She moaned his name over and over again which led to Troy being pushed over the wall and into ecstasy as Gabriella followed closely behind. He collapsed onto her small body, both sweating and breathing heavy._

"_I love you so damn much, Gabriella Montez." He managed to get out as he rolled off her body and pulled her onto his._

"_I love you too, Troy."_

The feeling of his toes getting wet suddenly awakened Troy. Moving around the sofa slowly, the sensation stopped. He looked up to see Mugsy had been the culprit to knock him out of his dream.

"Gee, thanks Mugs. I was having the best dream or memory or whatever you want to call it. Ugh." Troy stopped his tirade when Mugsy gave him sad puppy dog eyes. "Don't give me that look…"

Pushing himself off the sofa, Troy wandered around his apartment in search of Pamela. Seeing that she got an early start again on her day of work, he decided to go out for a morning job. Before leaving, he served a bowl of dog food to Mugsy and prepared a bagel for himself. After switching into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, Troy grabbed his keys and his IPOD and was out the apartment.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Chad! Its time to wake up! Come on! Let's go!" Taylor yelled in hopes of waking up the deep sleeper.

"Erm…" Chad let out a groan, grabbing the pillow to cover his head.

"Taylor and I already ready to go sight seeing…are you going to come or not?" Gabriella questioned, becoming impatient with Chad's boyish antics.

"You guys just go on without me…I'll lay back here in the room…just have fun." he replied, ignoring the looks of annoyance from the girls.

"Suit yourself, Danforth." Gabriella said as she grabbed Taylor's arm and they both walked out of the apartment.

They spent the entire day taking pictures of the historic sites they had seen. After spending their morning and early afternoon site seeing, the young ladies shopped along the various stores and boutiques that Manhattan had to offer. The duo soon decided that it was time to head back to the hotel room at about seven in the evening to search for Broadway and search for Troy.

"Gabriella, are you ready yet? We're waiting on you!" Chad yelled from the outside of the bathroom.

"Just one more minute. I _swear _I'm almost done!" she yelled back. Moments later she walked out of the bathroom and twirled before Chad and Taylor. "How do I look?"

She was wearing black pumps, with dark blue skinny jeans, a silky yet lacey camisole in a light shade of gray, a black cardigan which she wore open to show off the sexiness of her blouse, silver bracelets on both arms, a long silver chain that finished right below her breasts, and a smaller one that ended above her cleavage. Her hair was down in long tousling waves. She kept her makeup minimal since it wasn't necessary for her to wear much.

Taylor smiled at her friend's appearance as Chad simply checked her out.

"Looks good Gabbi…I'm sure Troy wont be disappointed." Chad finally said, breaking the silence.

"Okay then…lets go before I chicken out." With that said, the girls grabbed their purses and Chad stuffed whatever he needed into his pockets.

The three left, walking along the now dark streets of New York City, hoping to find their destination. After walking for about twenty minutes, they stopped at the corner of one of the streets.

"Why didn't we just drive around until we could find it?" the anxious brunette asked, looking over at her two friends.

"Because there's _hardly_ any parking in this city." Chad said with an obvious tone, answering her question.

"We'll never find Troy…" Gabriella said, losing hope.

"Yes, we will Gabs. Have a little faith, will you? He's here somewhere…we just got have to be more alert to that." Chad remarked as he tried to pull Gabriella away from her insecurities.

"Guys…turn around." Taylor demanded. The three looked at what Taylor was signaling and smiles appeared on their faces. They were face to face with a Broadway Poster of the latest show '_Amore Bella', _staring Troy Bolton.

The blood began to rush underneath the surface of Gabriella's skin. She felt an all too familiar feeling in the lower pit of her gut as she stared at his smiling face on the poster. Suddenly, she tense up realizing that he was only behind those doors somewhere. It had been years since she had seen him, let alone be near him and those old feelings came rushing back. She became nervous and her palms began to sweat, her bottom lip quivering the entire time.

"Gabriella!", Taylor called out, pulling her friend out of her trance, "Come on…we're going to buy our tickets before its sold out. They all walked towards the ticket booth and made their purchase.

"This is it guys…the moment we've been waiting for." Chad said walking ahead into the theater while Taylor walked behind, holding onto Gabriella's hand the whole time.

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**They found it! Yipee! So I update this a bit quicker since I'm sure some people are anticipating it!**

**Review it! I hope you guys liked this chapter!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note and Reminder: I don't own anything from HSM or Disney. I just own the character that no one likes, Pam. Oh and Mugsy!**_

"So Troy, are you ready for another awesome show tonight? It's the last one for the week!" Kelsi said. There were five minutes left before the curtain would go up.

"Indeed I am. You better get going…you know, make sure all the equipment is set up for the instruments and whatnot…" Troy stated.

"Yeah, you're right. See you out there Bolton. Break a leg!" Kelsi yelled as she walked out the room with a final wave. Once he was finally left alone, Troy began to reminisce on the dream he had that morning.

'I can't believe I dreamt of our first time! Talk about having a flashback…but that one is definitely my favorite one. Gabriella was just so beautiful…everything a guy would've hoped for in a girl. She was really smart, trustworthy, honest, sweet, funny, talented, gorgeous, sexy…overall perfect. How did I ever let that go, I'll never be able to figure it out. Why is she still affecting me? And why do I have this sudden nervous feeling? Why is my heart beating this fast? I remember it used to get like this whenever she was around before we started dating. It's like I feel a presence…but that's just insane. You know she isn't here. She's nowhere near here! Ugh! Stop killing yourself with these thoughts, Bolton…especially before a show! Note to self: Got to come up with better peptalks!'

Troy's head snapped up when he heard the stage manager tell him he had two minutes to get to the stage. He took one last glance at his mirror and walked out the dressing room and down the corridor towards the sounds of the applauses.

It was Troy's cue to enter the stage, singing a tune about his need to confess his love to the female star of the show, her stage name being Bella. The scene plays out that Bella is off sitting on a bench alone, oblivious of the presence of her best friend, Troy's character named Tom, while he sings a song as he stares at her from a distance. Once he is done singing, she notices him and waves him over, where they talk before they both exit the stage for the next scene.

Each time that Troy walked back on stage after each scene, he couldn't help but to feel the presence again. He knew that there were hundreds of people in the audience watching, but he felt as if only a pair of eyes from one person was staring at him. Troy felt it burning into him throughout the rest of the show until it was time for the intermission.

"Kels, I don't know what it is about tonight. Tonight not only feels different, but I feel like my performance is different too." He admitted to his short friend since forever.

"I didn't notice a difference at all, Troy. Explain what you mean." She said, furrowing her eyebrows and grabbing two small towels, one for her and the other for Troy.

"I don't know…for example, I felt myself sort of shaking while I sang. I even felt nervous! Like I did the first week that the show opened. It's just weird I guess…maybe it's just all in my head…" Troy said as he dabbed at hi forehead with the towel.

"What's all in your head?"

"Kelsi, I'm going to be honest with you…I had a flashback in my dream last night of when Gabbi and I lost our virginities-" Troy began to answer before Kelsi cut him off.

"_Okay_ and I think that's enough time of you being honest. Thanks for the insight, Troy." She patted him on the back, making an attempt to walk off.

"No, Kelsi that's not just it though," Kelsi turned back around and listened to what he had to say, "I feel like she's somewhere around and not spiritually. It's like when your instincts or gut feeling tries to tell you something but I'm not quite sure if I'm reading it right. Like what if my dream last night meant more than just a memory? Or the feelings that I have now mean something more too?"

Kelsi stared at the troubled yet confused face that her friend seemed to put on. "Troy, I honestly don't know. Not to discourage you but maybe it _is_ all in your head."

"I don't know…I guess it could be. Thanks for listening though Kels…I know I can always count on you." He gave her a brief hug and walked away to change into his outfit for the next scene while Kelsi made her way towards the refreshments.

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The intermission began and Gabriella could barely contain herself. From the moment Troy stepped onto the stage, she had stared at him and listened each time he sang or spoke. It was music to her ears and a source of food to her brain to have been there, soaking in his aura. If her breathing became irrational just from his distant presence, she couldn't imagine what it would be like once they are close. She thought about the man she saw, the man that she loved.

He barely changed.

She loved that the most.

The question was, did he act the same? This wasn't going to be sure of until she would actually speak to him later, if she did.

Noticing that Gabriella didn't get up from her seat when she and Chad did, Taylor reached over and shook her shoulder.

"Gabriella…come on. We're going to go to the refreshments stand."

"Uh…that's ok. You guys go without me…I'll sit back here." Gabriella rejected their invitation. She wanted time alone to think to herself and gather up all of her emotions. She felt that she was living a surreal life, taking a road trip across the country and sitting in the audience of a Broadway show that starred her beloved ex.

"You sure?" Taylor pressed on.

"As a matter of fact, I'll go with you guys…I think I need some fresh air." She finally gave in, thinking that she would worry her friends if she sat there alone.

Gabriella followed close behind as the threesome made their way through the crowded lobby. They never realized just how many people were at the show until that moment, pushing through to make the line for refreshments. The three of them stared in shock at the size of the line…there had to be at least twenty-five people ahead of them.

"Looks like we better make it if we ever want to buy your soda." Taylor said looking at Chad and led them towards the end of the line.

"This is ridiculous…lines are never this long in Albuquerque!" Chad exclaimed.

"Well then welcome to New York City." Said the woman who stood in front of them on the line.

"Thanks…" Chad said, wringing his wrists from embarrassment.

"So what brings you folks over here to the city of lights, love, and drama?" the woman asked.

"We're just here visiting an old friend of ours." Taylor replied sweetly.

"Oh, that's nice. I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the show." The woman said back, ending the conversation. The group stepped a spot up as the line slightly moved.

"Twenty four spots to go and we'll be able to get what we want." Chad sarcastically said. They slowly started to move closer and closer to the front, when suddenly a short girl with light brown hair skipped everyone.

"Did you guys just see that?" Chad asked disbelievingly.

"I know! The nerve of that girl!" Taylor said back, just as shocked as Chad. When Gabriella didn't say anything about it, they looked at her with confused expressions.

"Sorry guys, my mind is somewhere else…what were we saying?" She asked.

"The girl that just skipped!" Chad answered with a tone to say as if it were obvious. They turned to look at the front of the line again when the girl finished paying her drink and started to walk back. As she was about to walk past them, Taylor took a good look at her and the heavens dawned upon her as she realized who she was.

"Kelsi?" Taylor asked outloud, catching the girl's attention and causing her to turn around.

"Huh?" Kelsi said as she turned to the direction of the voice. Her eyes caught three people staring back at her with smiling faces. She squealed after she took a moment to remember who they were. Kelsi walked back towards them with a smile of her own.

"_My goodness! _Chad? Gabriella? Taylor? What are you guys doing here?!" she could barely contain her excitement as she hugged each individual.

"We're in town just visiting for the next three days or so…a random road trip actually! It's so good to see you! What are you doing here?" Gabriella answered and asked.

"Well, if you guys remembered, I came here for college and I've been here since! I actually am the composer for this show…gosh, its so good to see you all. I can't believe you're here!" She said. She couldn't keep the smile off her face and neither could the others.

"_You're_ the composer? We should have known! The songs are pretty awesome and catchy too…just the way I remember them being." Chad complimented.

"Thanks! So why are you guys at this show specifically?" Kelsi asked suspiciously, knowing that Troy was the male lead and wondered if that was their reason for traveling to the distant city.

Taylor being the first one to think quickly on her feet answered, "We've read tremendous reviews about it and a few of the people in the city suggested it. Not to mention that we've read in the newspaper that it's been sold out quite a few times so we couldn't deny seeing it."

"Oh okay…well guys listen, I actually have to get back since the show is going to begin in another ten minutes or so…wait a minute, what are you guys going to buy?" Kelsi questioned.

"Well Chad wants a soda and Taylor wants some popcorn. I'm just in the need for some bottled water." Gabriella said.

"I'll be right back then." Kelsi left the group and skipped the line again. Moments later she returned with what each person wanted.

"Kelsi, you didn't have to!" Gabriella said, knowing deep down inside that she was more than happy that Kelsi _did_ do it, saving her from standing even longer on her pumps.

"Nah, it was the least I can do because if I didn't, then you guys would never make it to the front in time for when the show gets back. But anyways, I really go to go back. We should totally meet up for dinner after! Meet me back here after the show!" Kelsi said before waving herself off and back to the backstage area.

The group of three walked off the line and back to their seating area, all still in shock of seeing Kelsi there.

"I can't believe that Kelsi is part of this show too." Gabriella said thinking about how surprised she was to have run into their old friend.

"I know right? But you know something…this actually makes it easier for us to get to Troy now since she works with him. I'm sure they spend time together, I mean _they have to, right?" _Chad said, showing that the wheels in his head we're working as they spoke.

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"Hey Troy, quick question before we have to get started again: What are you doing after the show?" Kelsi asked.

"Um…nothing really." Troy said. He didn't have any plans with Pamela nor did he have many friends besides his coworkers.

"Want to join me and a few friends for dinner then?" she asked, hoping that he would agree.

"Sure, I guess. Why not?" he replied. He didn't have a specific reason to deny her invitation.

"Perfect!" she said while exiting the room with a sly smile. "Operation Troyella is in full effect."

Kelsi and Chad were on the same page.

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The show finally ended with the actors taking their final bows and exiting off the stage.

Troy walked into his dressing room and changed into dark blue jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, white NIKES, and a black jacket. He placed both hands on opposite sides of his dresser and stared at his reflection at the mirror hanging above it.

'You need to let whatever you're thinking go. Just let it go, Bolton. There's no need to hang onto whatever you're feeling or to even bother analyzing it because none of it matters. Its just a series of coincidences…the dream, the feelings, everything is just a coincidence.'

Just then a light knock was heard from his door.

"Come in." he called out. Suddenly Kelsi appeared from behind the door.

"You ready?" she asked, a sparke twinkling in her eyes.

"Yep. Shall we?" he said in an easygoing manner.

"Yes we shall!" she said back, happy to see that he looked like he were in a good mood.

She led them towards the refreshment stand, staring at the back of a certain curly haired man. She walked closer to him with Troy following closely behind. Kelsi tapped his shoulder, catching his attention to turn around. Once he did, Troy's eyes widened and so did a smile.

"Dude, no way! Chad Danforth!" He said opening his arms to embrace him in a man hug, instantly remembering who he was.

"Troy Bolton! It's good to see you punk!" Chad exclaimed, accepting the hug from his former teammate. Kelsi stared at the exchange, a beaming smile on her face the entire time.

"It's so good to see you! What are you doing here man?" Troy asked, realizing that the last time he checked, Chad wasn't a New Yorker.

"Just being a fellow tourist to your new home."

"Hold on a sec…Kelsi, how did you know he would be here?" Troy asked, remembering that Kelsi was the one to lead him towards Chad.

"I ran into them during the intermission when I went to buy a soda." She said as if it were no big deal.

'Them?' Troy questioned in his mind.

"By the way Kels, speaking of 'them', the girls went to the bathroom like ten minutes ago…they should be back any minute now." Chad said.

'Girls? What girls? Wait a minute – no. Chad couldn't have meant _the_ girls. He couldn't be here with her, could he?' Troy thought to himself, a questioning look on his face.

"Alright then, I'll just wait here with you guys for them."

Not even a minute later, Troy felt a pair of eyes staring at him again…a specific presence. As if he felt the direction it was coming from, Troy turned around and saw two females walking towards the group. His mouth went completely dry as he felt himself unable to take his eyes off of the brunette beauty in front of him. His palms began to sweat and his breath shortened with each step closer that she took. Goose bumps slowly formed on his skin as the hairs on the back of his neck slightly rose from hearing her giggle at something that Taylor said.

Gabriella looked away from Taylor and stopped in her tracks when she realized that a specific blue-eyed man was gazing at her.

This was it…she knew it was time. No avoiding, no running, no hiding, no anything. It was time to face the music. The search was over and there he finally was…Troy Bolton.

Chad, Taylor, and Kelsi watched the eerie exchanged between the two and smiled at one another. They knew that the pair were meant to be reunited and were proud that they each had a small part of it and were able to have witnessed it.

Shaking his head, Troy took a step forward in her direction, bringing Gabriella out of her daze and to walk towards him as well.

They both felt as though they were back in high school, feeling unsure of what to do next and just making the situation more awkward. They nervously smiled at each other, having a conversation with their eyes.

"Gabriella…"

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**The moment that everyone has been anticipating! The meeting between the former lovers! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter and will review your thoughts and opinions about it! **

**By the way, I want to thank the few people that actually have taken the time to review my story so far...it hasn't been many people but I still appreciate the gesture. I'm glad that they have been nothing but positive reviews! Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Gabriella…" Troy spoke her name breathlessly.

"Troy…" she said back, just as breathless as he was. Neither of them felt able to breathe since they were choked up on the moment, each of them on their own high.

They stared intently at each other's eyes, forgetting the world around them. They didn't care who was there or where they were, the only thing that mattered was the person that stood in front of them.

"Well, I see you two have been reunited and have begun your conversations but I'm really hungry. Could we go now?" Chad interrupted, causing both to shake out of their moment and try to regain their composures. Chad couldn't help but to smirk at their reactions.

"Yea um…lets go man." Troy walked ahead with Chad while the two girls ran towards Gabriella, gushing at what just happened.

"Oh my God, Gabs! Did you see how he stared at you?"

"Girl, you had him lost for words!"

"Are those fireworks in your eyes?"

"He was just as into the moment as you were!"

"Guys! Chill, will you?", Gabriella said, showing her annoyance, "Did he really seem that into me?" she said with a smirk, the three girls giggling as they each enlaced their arms together with Gabriella in the middle.

"Into you? He was more than into you…it looks like you relit a specific flame." Taylor teased, causing Gabriella to blush and while she looked down.

Kelsi was happy that it looked like things were going to be well, but it suddenly hit her that drama will soon break out once she remembered that Troy was married…to Pam.

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"So everybody, this restaurant is a pretty well known one here in the city. Troy and I have eaten here quite a few times so we could give you guys a good recommendation for it. Want to try and hit it up?" Kelsi asked as she led the group as if she were giving them a tour. They all agreed and continued walking. Taylor walked up with Chad and followed Kelsi, leaving Troy and Gabriella behind.

As they began to walk side by side, Troy nervously raked his left hand through his hair, lost for words. Gabriella started to examine her fingernails, also unsure of what to make of the situation.

Realizing that one of them needed to say something, Troy spoke up, "So how have you been?"

Startled by his sudden communication, Gabriella looked at Troy and back down before she answered, "I've been doing well actually. Can't complain much about life since everything seems to be going pretty good…at least so far. What about you?"

"I've been good…I'm currently loving the life I live. Everything seems to just fit correctly into place and feel right. You know?" Gabriella nodded her understanding. She did feel a little taken aback when Troy said he was happy there. She couldn't help but to reflect on when he said that everything fitting correctly into place, her not being part of the puzzle.

"How has your mom been, Gabs?" Troy suddenly asked, knocking her out of her thoughts.

"She's good. She actually still works for the same company as before but they actually gave her the opportunity to chose where she wanted to live permanently for her next move after some time of my graduation, and she chose Albuquerque. I visit her every other month since I decided to live in California but I do talk to her everyday. I don't see her as often as I would like but with work being so hectic and I'm a pretty important female in my job so…you know." She said trying not to brag about her life.

"That's good. Um, do you know anything about my parents?" Troy couldn't help but wonder what became of his parents since he was lousy enough to not keep in touch with them. He felt slightly embarrassed to say the least that he asked her such a question.

"Well last time I saw them, they seemed to be doing well. They're still living pretty well and both are in excellent shape. Chad would obviously know more about this though; I know he still sees them often…you know, they do miss you Troy…that I'm more than a hundred percent sure of. Why don't you ever give them a call? Or write them a letter? The number is still the same and so is the address…" Gabriella suggested, unsure of whether or not Troy was satisfied with her answer.

"I don't know Brie. Thanks though…for assuring me that they're doing great. So what are you into now? Like, what do you do? Since you obviously know that I'm an actor and you said you're a pretty important figure at your job…" Troy attempted to lighten up the mood.

"I'm the Editor in Chief of _'Clique'_, it's a magazine. I don't know if you've heard of it before or seen one of its issues. It actually has been selling well lately so I guess I have something to be proud of."

"Wait…you're the editor of _'Clique'_? Pam _loves_ that magazine!" Troy said, not even realizing who he just mentioned in front of Gabriella.

"Pam? Who's she?" Gabriella asked, confusion written on her face at Troy mentioning someone that she wouldn't know.

"Um…Pam? She's uh…she's someone that you could say that I'm currently involved with…" Troy stammered, looking at Gabriella's face to see a reaction and noticing a hint of disappointment and hurt in her eyes. Right there at that moment, he felt like such a jerk and regretted for speaking without thinking.

'You're involved with?! What was that Troy? Pam's you're wife for crying out loud! You can't just deny that huge bit of information or bother to leave it out…Gabriella has the right to know about this. Although, it's not like you guys are anything anyway…' he thought.

Gabriella quickly recovered from the news she was just given, "Oh…that's great! I'm happy for you, really I am." She knew she was lying between her teeth but she tried to spare him a smile, failing miserably but thankfully, Troy ignored it.

Gabriella couldn't deny the pang of jealousy she instantly felt for whoever Pam was. When he mentioned that he was 'involved' with someone, she automatically saw red but couldn't let Troy think that he had caused her to be upset considering that she was supposed to have been moved on from their relationship that no longer existed.

"What about you Gabbi? How is the love life treating you? Troy asked, secretly hoping to hear that she wasn't currently with anyone. He knew it wasn't fair for him to hope that since he was basically married…or as he would call it, _involved_.

"Uh…I'm actually single at the moment. Like I have dated people but right now I find that I enjoy my life more as a single and independent woman." Gabriella said, mentally kicking herself after, hoping that Troy didn't think that she wouldn't want anything with him if he did. Troy felt slightly relieved to hear that she was in fact single.

'Breathe Gabriella! What are you doing exactly? You're here for Troy, not to scare him away forever! You're single but he's seeing someone right now. Well he did say 'involved'…so technically it cant be that serious then, right? Normally when things are serious, people say their girlfriend or boyfriend but he didn't…he said involved so its safe for me to assume that he's sort of on the market, right?' her thoughts running full speed ahead in her mind.

Seeing that the subject needed to be desperately changed since Gabriella's facial expression changed, Troy asked her about California, engaging her into a distraction. He silently smiled to himself as he watched how animated she became while talking about her new home. He admired how Gabriella spoke of it and the way her face lit up. He chuckled to himself when he noticed just how into the description she was.

"Did I amuse you in some sort of way, Bolton?" Gabriella asked with a hint of humor and sarcasm.

"Actually you did, Ms. Montez." Troy answered in a British accent.

"How so if I may ask?" she asked with a British accent of her own.

"The way you became so enthusiastic out of nowhere when you started to describe California…it was actually pretty cute." He smirked at her, smiling to himself as he watched her lower her head as her attempt to hide her blush.

Gabriella was quite amazed that he could still have that effect on her, the effect to make her blush. She admired how he brought a certain comfortable energy to him still, not a big fan herself of awkward moments.

"You know Gabs, you really haven't changed that much. I mean you do look more mature physically and so are your clothes…not that your clothes weren't nice before but what you're wearing right now seems to suit you better with the way you've aged and developed and I'm rambling, right?" Troy stopped himself before he could cause further embarrassment.

"Yeah…you were. If I'm correct, I think you've been checking me out?" Gabriella teased, grinning at him with a certain twinkle in her eye.

"Um…maybe…I might have…" He looked away shyly, causing Gabriella to giggle.

"It's ok Troy, I might have checked you out as well…" She returned his shy gaze and blushed when she saw the bewildered expression on his face.

"Does my look please the eyes?" He flirted. Troy couldn't help the feeling that the petite woman besides him caused. He felt like if he were just getting to know her all over again because that's what it was, almost like a blind date. He knew that he probably knew her like the back of his hands, knowing foolish and intimate details about her that a lot of people wouldn't know, yet she was still a different person, an older Gabriella.

"I must say that it does. You were always cute, Troy…but you've also grew in your 'mature' look and it suits you." Gabriella replied sincerely, Troy giving her a small smile.

"Were you just complimenting me, Montez?" He playfully asked, his smile growing wider when she responded.

"Perhaps I was. Besides, it's the least I can do from your rambling that was supposed to be a compliment I guess." She retorted.

"So you only complimented me because I complimented you?" Troy questioned, continuing the light playful banter.

"Something like that. You didn't think that I would seriously compliment you first without you having to give me one, did you?" Gabriella asked back with a fake bitchy attitude, giggling when Troy put an over exaggerated hurt expression.

Gabriella stared at him for a few moments after, thinking back on the old memories she shared with Troy. Back then, he was her everything and she would've done whatever it took to make him happy, knowing he would do the same for her. Here she was now, flirting with him with her tummy in knots doing flips, amazed that there hasn't been much awkwardness between the two after everything that happened.

Troy noticed that Gabriella was deep in thought as he caught her looking at him. Waving his hand in front of her face to catch her attention, she blinked several times and was brought back to reality.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Troy was curious as to what was on her mind.

"My thoughts are worth more than pennies." Gabriella smirked from her response.

Troy pulled out his wallet and was about to open it, "How much is it to know what was on your mind then?"

"Troy put that away. My thoughts aren't worth any kind of money and besides its not big deal." Gabriella replied.

"Well it must be worth something because I know that I still consider your thoughts important whether it's something that you consider not worth knowing or something that actually is." He said, pouring every ounce of sincerity into his words.

"Thanks Wildcat…but I'm going to leave the thought to myself…at least for now." She said back.

"That's fine. By the way, did you just call me wildcat?" Troy smiled, remembering that that was her pet name for him when they were younger.

"Yep." Gabriella looked back at him with a smile of her own as she walked up ahead to join the rest of the group.

Troy shook his head, watching her retreating back. "Something's will never change… and I'm glad that's one of them." He whispered the last part, as they arrived at the restaurant.

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The gang finished their meals as they sat at the rectangular table with Gabriella and Troy sitting next to each other while Taylor and Chad sat on the opposite side. Kelsi sat at the end of the table, next to Gabriella and Taylor. Not wanting to leave just yet, they started to make small talk.

"You took the girls to see your aunt Jenny? How is she?" Troy asked. He remembered the times that he spent with Chad's family, visiting his house everyday during the summertime to hang out with his cousins from North Carolina.

"She doing good man…you know how she is. Never lets anything bring the smile off her face. Still sweet as candy if not more than ever." Chad replied, smiling as he thought back to just a few days ago when he was with her.

"She was delightful! I couldn't believe that she and Chad came from the some bloodline. Who would've thought?" Taylor joked, earning a playfully evil glare from Chad.

"That's nice. Will you guys excuse me? I should call Patrick and let him know where I am…" Kelsi said but was stopped before she could leave the table.

"Who's Patrick?" Gabriella asked with a grin, figuring it must've been her current love interest.

"Patrick is the guy that our Kelsi here seems to be seeing right now." Troy answered for her, Kelsi blushing the entire time.

"Yeah which I should really call him so um…I'll be right back", and with that said, Kelsi made an exit towards the bathrooms with her cell phone in hand. Taylor and Chad looked over towards the former lovers sitting in front of them and noticed that they seemed to have been caught up in their own world that they created just for the two. Neither of them noticed that curly haired boy nor the dark skinned beauty was staring at them as they spoke amongst themselves.

"Looking at them makes me feel glad that we did this." Taylor commented, nodding her head in Troy and Gabriella's direction.

"Yeah, me too. This is exactly what they must have been missing. I haven't seen Gabriella looked this…happy or into a conversation with a guy in a long time. All she needed was that little push to come here…we did the right thing Tay." Chad responded. If he didn't know who they were, he would've thought that they were already a couple do to the glow that each one had. Their eyes sparkling as they laughed with each other at whatever they seemed to have found funny. Just the way they were in each other's presence was enough to convince anyone that they clearly still shared something.

"We did do the right thing…I know we did." As Taylor finished her sentence, Kelsi appeared back at the table, sitting in her seat again.

Gabriella looked away from Troy and glanced at Kelsi, eyeing her before asking her how she met Patrick.

Kelsi began to tell the story that she just told Troy the other day as everyone listened. Before they knew it, it was almost midnight and they were the last ones sitting in the restaurant.

"So where are you guys staying at? Troy asked, looking at Chad, Taylor, and Gabriella.

"We're staying at Hotel McHill. Hey, why don't you come by and stay a bit with us? We still got a lot to catch up on…" Chad suggested with hope in his voice.

Troy knew he couldn't because he had Pam that he had to hurry and get home to. "Uh, sorry man…can't do it tonight. But I'll see you guys tomorrow? We don't do shows on the weekend so if you guys want, I could show you other things about the city besides its main attractions."

"Sounds good, Troy." Taylor replied. Chad exchanged numbers with Troy so that they could continue their fun tomorrow. The five of them stood up and paid their bill, walking to the front of the restaurant.

"So I'll see you guys tomorrow?" Troy questioned, looking directly at Gabriella. She smiled in his direction, blushing that he practically directed the question towards her rather than the group before she answered.

"You can count it."

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**So there you have it - the reunion! If I have any typos, please excuse them because I didn't read the chapter over. I hope you guys liked it! **

**REVIEW PLZ! IT ISNT GONNA KILL U TO TYPE A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR OPINION!**


	10. Chapter 10

Troy awoke the next morning, Saturday, with a smile upon his face. His eyes fluttered open as the sunlight danced upon his skin, reminiscing on last night's events.

'Was it all a dream? It was too good to be true! She was there…in the flesh…my Gabriella. She looked even better than I could ever remember…not to mention that she's still down to earth, still capable of holding up a conversation. She was just so beaut-' Troy couldn't continue with his thoughts as he was knocked out of them do to someone stirring next to him. He looked over to his side and glanced at Pam's sleeping figure. She rolled over onto her side and faced him, her eyes opening slowly with a small smile.

"Good morning handsome…" she whispered so lowly that Troy felt as though he had to read her lips.

"Good morning babe. How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good since you were by my side the whole night…and now I feel much better to have you be the first thing I see when waking up." Pamela answered, watching as Troy slightly blushed from her comment. Troy couldn't help but to feel guilty at his wife's compliment because he awoke thinking about someone that wasn't her.

"Aren't you quite the sweetheart?", Troy playfully teased, earning a giggle to escape Pam's lips. "What do you have planned for today?"

"Actually, I was hoping to spend the day with you if its not a problem. I figured that since we haven't seen much of each other this week that we could spend some needed time today. What do you say, Mr. Broadway?"

"Pamela baby, as much as I would love to spend time with you today, I sort of can't. I have to go to the theater today to work on some stuff actually with the rest of the crew and cast. You understand right?" Troy lied. 'Did you just lie to your wife? That is so unlike you, Troy! First you don't completely tell Gabriella the truth about you and then you lie to Pam? Not cool! Although, that was a pretty believable lie...would she buy it?' Troy thought, his conscience eating him up a bit inside.

"Yeah, I get it. It's no biggie, really…" Pamela tried her best to hide her disappointment, knowing in the back of her mind that she was actually glad that he would be distracted.

'Guess she did buy it...kudos to you, Bolton...' he thought. "Thanks Pamela. You're the best! You know that right? I'll make it up to you soon, I promise." Troy said as he pulled Pamela closer against his body to snuggle against him. He kissed the top of her tangled auburn hair before glancing at the clock on the night table, noting that it was almost 10:30 AM. "I should start getting ready. Got to head out soon. Are you sure you're going to be alright today?"

"Yeah babe. Don't worry about me, I'll call some of the girls and see if they want to get together for an afternoon of bonding since its been _forever_ since I've had a girls day."

"Alright baby…if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the shower." Troy said as he untangled himself from Pamela's body and lifted himself off the bed, heading towards the bathroom in the hallway.

Once Pamela heard the lock of the bathroom door, she closed the bedroom door and pulled out her cell phone, dialing an all too familiar number.

"Lancey-bear?...It's me, Pam...I miss you too...What are you doing today?"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sure thing man…alright…. in an hour? Catch you in the lobby, Bolton….see you later…bye." Chad hung up his cell phone as Taylor looked over at him, Gabriella still sleeping beside her.

"So what does Troy have planned for us today?" Taylor asked with a quizzical face.

"I'm not sure, but I'm guessing its something good. You know Troy was never the one to do something dull or leave you bored." Chad replied, smirking as he thought about the old fond memories that he had with Troy. They had plenty of good and hilarious times to look back on, even the times that weren't good but were considered funny now.

"That's true. Well I'm going to take a quick shower. I'll wake Gab's up when I'm done so she can get ready after, leaving you for last." Taylor stated while Chad's expression changed.

"That's not fair! I'm up before she is! Why do I have to be last?" He questioned confusingly. Chad just didn't understand these womanly situations.

"Because she's a girl and we like to take our time with these things, especially since she's seeing Troy so she needs more time that you do to get ready." Taylor explained, in the back of her mind hoping that Chad understood and dropped the subject.

"But I'm seeing Troy too. Isn't that special for me?" Chad ranted, attempting to playfully act like a child throwing a minor tantrum. Taylor smiled at this, knowing that Chad was just trying to be a pain.

"Chad, sweetheart. You were never romantically involved with Troy, were you?" Taylor asked, watching Chad's face contemplating a clever remark but he held it back. "I thought so…anyway, she goes before you in this situation so just get over it and go along with it." With that, Taylor stood up from her spot on the bed she shared with Gabriella and walked towards the bathroom with her outfit she picked out the night before in hand.

A few moments after Taylor closed the bathroom door, Gabriella began to stir around the bed; a smile spreading on her face as she finally opened her eyes.

"Good morning, sunshine. You look pretty happy to be awake today…how'd you sleep?" Chad commented and asked as he looked over at her slim figure lying on the bed

"Morning to you too, Chad. I slept awesomely, thank you asking." Gabriella answered, happy to see some of the sunlight peeking in through the curtains. "Doesn't it look like it's going to be a beautiful day?"

"Uh, I guess so. Are you feeling okay?" Chad figured that she must've been overtaken by something for her to be so…friendly. She was always nice and sweet, but this morning she was just a little _too_ nice. He couldn't help but wander if yesterday's events had anything to do with it.

"Of course! Never been better actually. Why do you ask?" She asked somewhat confused, furrowing her brows together as she sat up on the bed. Gabriella knew why she felt happy this morning but didn't think it was that noticeable.

Chad thought her actions through before he answered, deciding against his gut feeling, "Nah, nothing. Just asking."

"Alrighty then...whatever, you weirdo." she retorted, grinning at her own playfulness, "Did you enjoy last night?" Gabriella asked, reflecting on last night's events. Her eyes seemed distant for a moment as she thought back to the night before, a small smile grazing her features.

"I did. It was great seeing Kelsi and Troy again…who would've ever thought that we'd see Kelsi too, by the way. Oh yeah! We're meeting Troy in about an hour. Taylor's in the shower right now as we speak, she got in there about five minutes ago." Chad said, not wanting to forget to let Gabriella in on what was going to happen in a bit. "It was like as if last night was nothing but something that we can think back on years from now and say 'That's something to never forget' or 'I had the time of my life', you know? Well in reality, it wasn't just last night...it's been this entire trip so far. It's like sometimes the simplest memories or moments are the most memorable. Although this is anything but simple, it's obviously something that's worth remembering. Am I making any sense?"

"In a way you are…I get what you mean." Gabriella replied, looking down at her palms as she rested them in front of her lap.

"What about you Gabster? Had fun last night?" Chad grinned, expecting to hear her rant on about Troy.

"Indeed I did." She kept her answer simple. It wasn't like she was avoiding the question; she just didn't completely fill him in on how she felt. Besides, she did answer what he only asked.

"That's it? 'Indeed you did'?" Chad asked disappointedly. He shook his head from the confusion he felt from Gabriella not showing any type of enthusiasm about the situation. "Ah, what a minute...I see what you're doing. You're just trying to go for the 'I don't know what you're trying to get at' act." Chad accused. Just then Taylor walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed wearing khaki capris, red wedges, a white button down, and a red vest. Her hair was done in a curly bob and she wore a bit of makeup.

"Oh, you wanted details? Sorry Danforth but a lady never tells all the information, unless you're part of the women's network…which you don't seem to obtain the fragile and slender features of a female so I guess I can't tell you. Or at least not for now…" Gabriella looked back over her shoulder and smirked in Chad's direction as she emerged into the bathroom.

"What was that all about?" Taylor asked.

"Oh you know, Brie just hiding how oh so in love she is in, not to mention also being a royal pain in the ass. She woke up this morning all nice and super lovey dovey. She's just trying to keep her feelings that I already know as a secret." He retorted.

"Or maybe she's just right…you're not part of the women's network. Those intimate details are things that men can't know just because it's simply something that can only be shared between us females. It's like when you guys go out looking for girls in clubs…you have to have a guy come with you as your wingman or copilot or whatever its called…this is similar to that." Taylor explained, trying her best to get Chad to understand since sometimes he just didn't catch on to things.

"It's not fair. You females are never fair. It's not like us guys have a _'men's network'_…" Chad whined wanting to prove his point, unfortunately he didn't succeed.

"Um, Chad? What I just explained is kind of the guys version of the women's network…duh." Taylor said with an expression that said that it was obvious.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…whatever. I could never win with you guys." Chad walked over to the window, staring out at the busy traffic below, studying how things appeared to be such chaos in New York yet it was known as the center of the universe. "I don't get how people are so used to all of this here in New York. It's so busy and crowded…and not mention that a lot of people aren't so friendly here."

"It just takes time. I mean, the city has a lot more to offer than what you see outside…you would've known if you would've came with Gabriella and me yesterday afternoon. Besides, I think it's a great city to live in, there's so much diversity and excitement. Troy's going to show us just why he loves it so much and why he never came back to his real home. I'm sure he'll prove to you just why it's called the greatest city in the world." Taylor said as he walked towards Chad, staring out the window with him. Chad glanced at her with a longing look, but looked away when Taylor glanced back. She rubbed the side of his arm and he looked up back at her, their faces barely inches apart. They moved closer together but jumped back apart as they heard the bathroom door open.

"Alright Chad, I'm all do-" Gabriella cut herself off as she saw the flushed looked on her friends faces. "Did I just miss something?"

"No! Not at all, we were just admiring the streets below and the people." Taylor tried to recover from the minor damage.

"Uh huh, ok." Gabriella replied, shaking her head as she dismissed the suspicions lingering in her mind. "Well as I was saying before, Chad the bathroom is all yours."

"Thanks." He brushed passed Gabriella and headed inside the bathroom, trying his best to hide his face so she wouldn't see his blush. Once inside, Gabriella looked towards Taylor with a small smirk, contemplating whether or not to interrogate her best friend. She decided she would.

"So Tay, what was that that I just almost walked in on?" she asked with teasing voice, causing Taylor to turn a deeper shade of red. "If you keep blushing like that you're going to look like your vest."

"Oh shutup Gabbi! Speaking of vest, you look pretty." Taylor said, attempting to distract Gabriella and change the subject.

"Really? You think so?" Gabriella asked with an insecure tone. She looked down at her outfit, biting her lip. She wore a teal colored mid-thigh dress that showed enough cleavage with small ruffles outlining the V-neck and short sleeves, two-inched gold and beige wedges, gold bangles on both arms, gold hoops, and a small gold necklace. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with a few small ringlets surrounding her face. On her face she sported blush, mascara, and a shimmery lipgloss. She didn't look trashy at all. She pulled the look off quite nicely, keeping it young yet her age and fun.

"I know so Gabs…I see you have some leg showing, Troy would be pretty satisfied." Taylor teased.

"I didn't show my legs for Troy…I just know that its one of my best features so why should I be refrained to cover them up?" Gabriella lied. She remembered that Troy loved her legs since he thought they were nearly perfect for someone who was so petite.

"If that's what you want to try and get me to believe then ok, but just so you know, I know its not the truth but whatever. Anyway, I heard from Chad that you woke up feeling quite chipper, am I right?" Taylor asked, eyeing her best friend with a grin growing on her face. Gabriella walked towards the bed and sat down upon it while Taylor still stood beside the window.

"You might have heard correctly…" Gabriella answered, smiling as she looked away from Taylor's gaze.

"Oh really? And may I ask what made you so happy this morning then?" Taylor asked, walking towards the bed that Chad claimed and threw herself on it, facing Gabriella.

"Come on Taylor…don't act like you don't know what could've possibly made me wake up with the stupid smile on my face." Gabriella's face showed that she didn't want to be teased about the subject.

"I know exactly why you woke up with that stupid yet adorable smile…and if I'm correct, it involves a certain blue eyed man." Taylor replied.

"You know me so well." Gabriella smiled with a sarcastic tone. Taylor giggled at her response, eyeing her friend. The two fell into a comfortable silence for about a minute until Taylor broke it.

"How did you feel last night? Seeing him again after all those years?" she waited with a certain intent silence, being patient for Gabriella's answer.

"Honestly, I can't even begin to describe it, you know? Where do I start to even try?" Gabriella looked down at her hands for a second before she ran her right hand up and down her left arm, "It was like the world stopped spinning for a split second and shattered the ground beneath me, like if I was falling but it was towards something good. It was like all of the stars shining brightly and then suddenly becoming shooting stars at the same time, kind of amazing like that. My heart pumped like mad and I had such an adrenaline going on at the moment when I first saw him up on that stage and it continued to feel that way when I saw him face to face, you know what I mean?"

Taylor looked at the confused expression on Gabriella's face and gave her a warm smile filled with reassurance. "Not that much but when those type of feelings come up, only the person who feels it could understand its meaning. Gabbi, I hate to be the one to tell you this but you still got it bad for Mr. Bolton."

"I know! I know…we'll see what happens." Gabriella dropped the subject and walked towards the mirror on the wall above the desk in the corner of the room. She observed her reflection, checking to see if there was anything wrong with her look and walked away from it satisfied to find that she looked good. Moment's later, Chad walked out of the bathroom with the blower in hand, walking as far as the extension would allow him to. He was drying his hair.

"Wow Chad, that's very manly of you." Gabriella joked, earning a stern look from the man with the wet hair.

"Shut your trap, Montez. I'll have you know that me using the blower doesn't make me feel any less of a man…in fact, it makes me feel manlier since I'm comfortable enough with my own sexuality to use one of these womanly devices." Chad said, sounding quite smart.

"I'm impressed. You seemed to have proved me wrong, Mr. Danforth." Gabriella said back, raising her hands in defense as a symbol of her surrendering.

"Thank you, Ms. Montez. Now if you ladies will excuse me, I'm going to finish blow drying my hair." Chad walked back to the bathroom and shut the door, closing in the noise of the blower. Taylor couldn't hold her laughter in any longer from the exchange that just went on.

"That was pretty bizarre." She commented.

"Tell me about it…" Gabriella said back, shaking her head from the thought. The girls began to prepare their over-sized purses when Chad stepped out the bathroom again.

"Alright Tay and Gabs. I just got the call from Troy; he's down in the lobby so I guess we better get going. You guys ready?" Chad asked, looked back and forth at the two.

"As ready as we'll ever be. Let's get going before Gabriella realizes that she might be forgetting something." Taylor said, grinning when Gabriella gave her a fake insulted face.

"You guys like picking on me today, don't you?" she playfully asked as she gave them both a stern look.

"Pretty much…you're just an easy target today." Chad replied, holding the hotel room door open for the girls as they all walked out and down the hallway towards the elevators.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Sorry that I took awhile to update this time...just been sort of busy. I must admit that I'm a bit disappointed from the lack of reviews from the last chapter...it's kind of tough knowing that about a hundred people read each chapter and they have this story on their alert subscriptions yet I don't get many reviews...I'm assuming it's good and that people like it if they subscribe but I would really appreciate the reviews. For those who have given me a few, I want to say thanks! It makes me pretty happy!**

**Anyway, this chapter didn't have much Gabriella and Troy interaction but it did further express how both feel about the situation at hand. Next chapter will have more of them together, I swear! Thanks for reading and stay tuned! I'm going to try to update ASAP. Review plzzzz!**


	11. Chapter 11

Troy paced slowly back and forth through the lobby waiting for his friends to come down. He began to become impatient since his nerves were jumping wildly within his body, probably because he was dying to see a specific brunette. Troy pulled out his cell phone and was about to press the redial number to rush Chad when he suddenly heard the 'ding' of the elevator about twenty feet away. His head snapped up towards that direction as his eyes narrowed, hoping it was them. To his satisfaction, it was. He watched as Taylor, Gabriella, and Chad all laughed as they got out while Gabriella smacked Chad's arm. Troy felt a small smile form on his face watching the interaction, looking forward to the day of fun ahead. His bottom lip began to quiver as his mouth went dry from staring at Gabriella. His eyes wandered to her exposed legs, enjoying the view since he always admired her legs. 'She must've remembered…either that or she's just trying to be a tease,' he thought. Taylor enlaced her arm with Gabriella's and leaned close to her ear, as if to tell her a secret while Chad's eyes opened wide with alert to scan the lobby for Troy. Once Chad spotted him, he smiled at his former teammate and led the girls to Troy's direction.

"Danforth…McKessie…Montez. Good afternoon to you all." Troy said cheerfully, embracing each one within a hug leaving Gabriella for last. They held each other a few seconds longer than Troy did with the others. The both of them hoped that no one noticed although they knew that they most likely did.

"Good afternoon to you too, Troy." Gabriella said once they pulled back. Troy took that brief moment and stared into Gabriella's eyes, traveling them down her perfect curves all the way to her tiny toes. She blushed, realizing that he was checking her out.

'God, she's just so _sexy_ and _beautiful_. What more could a guy ask for? I'm such an idiot!' Troy mentally kicked himself, thinking about how that could've been his. "You look nice, Brie."

"Thanks, Wildcat. Right back at you." She said with a wink and a smile. She admired his black and white converse, fitted blue jeans, and black vintage t-shirt that graced a funky design on the front. Chad and Taylor stood aside grinning silently at the exchange, amused at their shy flirtation.

"Thanks. By the way, you look nice too Taylor." Troy realized that he didn't show much acknowledgement towards the dark skinned beauty and acted quick to do so before they became more suspicious of his feelings…besides the fact that they would probably tease him about it later.

"Well thank you, Troy…it was nice to finally receive a compliment about my appearance." Taylor replied, looking in Chad's direction, who wasn't even paying her any mind. She smacked his arm making him jerk his head towards her with surprise and confusion.

"What'd I do now?" Chad asked. He glanced back at Gabriella and Troy to see if they were just as lost as he was. They looked away with a giggle, confirming that they knew what was going on.

"Nothing, Chad. You should take some lessons from Troy on how to flatter a girl sometime. You know, be a gentleman, perhaps?" Taylor said slightly annoyed.

"Leave it to Troy to make all the other guys look bad…" Chad joked, shaking his head with a smirk. Troy smiled at his statement, amusement glittering in his eyes.

"Can't blame me for that, you got to blame mom and dad. They raised me to be quite the charmer." Troy replied, purposely looking at Gabriella while saying the second part.

"And to be pretty cocky too, huh?" Gabriella retorted.

"And you enjoyed every minute of it." He said back, grinning when she didn't have a comeback. Gabriella couldn't help but to smile and blush from his comment, trying her best to hide her face from his view but she was too late, he had already seen it. "Blushing are we, Ms. Montez?"

"No…It's just, uh…erm…too hot in here. This heat makes me turn all red." She lied, knowing that no one bought it since she was a terrible liar. Chad and Taylor laughed at her attempt to hide her blush.

"Whatever you say, Gabs…" Troy suddenly felt butterflies in the bit of his gut when she looked back at him, no longer avoiding his gaze. He saw a certain intensity in her eyes, yet it was also playful, as if she were longing for something.

"So Bolton, what do you have planned for us?" Chad asked, interrupting their brief moment of silence and gazing, both Troy and Gabriella groaning inwardly with annoyance.

"Uh, one of the places I want to take you guys too is the huge 'Toys R Us' in Times Square. It might be a toy store but it's just that awesome! You guys are going to love it!" Troy spoke with enthusiasm, sounding like a little kid at the candy store, his eyes filled with such excitement.

"Well then lets get going, shall we?" Taylor walked next to Troy, looking at him with an expectant expression. Troy led the group out of the hotel and onto the busy sidewalk of the city. In the back of his mind, he wanted nothing more but to grasp Gabriella's hand and whisper sweet nothings into her ear or just pin her against a wall and ravish those plumped lips that she adorned, but he knew that would be far too much to ask for since his guilty conscience wouldn't allow him to…or at least not yet. Who knew when he would crack, right?

Taylor and Gabriella stood behind the guys during their walk, caught up in their own conversation. Chad glanced back at them and saw how into their conversation they were, so he took the opportunity to start one up with Troy.

"So Troy, my main man…what have you been up to since Albuquerque?" he questioned, looking over to his side where Troy stood beside him walking.

"You know me, just been chilling and hanging in there I guess…The career is going good, I'm still alive…what else is there?" Troy answered, putting his hands in his pocket and looked down at his shuffling foot, keeping a steady pace for the girls to keep up with.

"Well for starters, how's the love life treating you?" Chad didn't feel the need to beat around the bush any longer, trying to seek information about his best friend's life. He knew that Troy must've had some kind of action of some sort going on because it was Troy Bolton. He knew that girl's swooned at his appearance and that they wanted him, so he must've been dating or at least getting some, right? That was all Chad could assume since he hadn't seen Troy as what he would define as forever.

"Um…" Troy was at lost for words. He wondered if Gabriella mentioned Pam at any point after he left yesterday. Troy wasn't sure if he could be able to lie to Chad. They grew up together and Chad knew Troy like the back of his hand. Should he just come clean and admit to his marriage? He was so unsure of how to even answer the question that he just said the first thing that came to mind, "It's complicated."

Chad furrowed his eyebrows with confusion from the response; he definitely wasn't expecting that. "Complicated? What do you mean? How so?"

Troy glanced at his friend's face, unsure of how to explain. "Where do I begin?" He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding the questioning eyes of his caramel toned friend. "I'm just involved with someone right now…" He let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding in. His heart began to speed up wandering if Chad was going to take the answer for what it was or probe further with questions. Luck wasn't in Troy's corner since he got what he didn't want.

"Involved? With who?" Chad grinned at this, amused that Troy seemed nervous to talk about a girl to him…or was he nervous because of the girl that was about a foot behind him.

"Her name is Pamela." Troy didn't want to go any further into details, praying to the heavens above that Chad would just quit.

"Where's she from?" Nope, Chad wasn't giving up.

"Here…New York." Troy answered, halting at the end of one of the sidewalks. Cars were passing by at a quick enough speed for someone to get killed if they weren't paying attention and walked into the traffic. The guys stood quiet for a minute, cautious to not risk having the girls overhear their conversation. Moment later the light turned red, signaling for everyone on the sidewalk to continue his or her journeys.

"Does Gabriella know about her?" Chad just wasn't going to let it go.

"Yeah, actually she does. I mentioned her yesterday to Ella." Troy looked directly at Chad to prove that his answer was honest. He did tell her that he honestly had someone in his life right now; he just _forgot_ to mention that it was permanent.

"How did she take it?" Chad was curious to know. He knew how Gabriella felt about Troy and couldn't help but wonder if she was crushed by the news, considering that she did travel this far for him.

"Alright, I guess. I honestly don't know…like she did tell me she was happy for me and whatnot but I could've sworn before that she looked a little disappointed. I could've been imagining it but I seriously think I saw a small glint of upset in her eyes. You know how Brie could be sometimes though, she'll lead you to believe whatever she wants if she hides it well…"

"Yeah I know what you mean. This morning she fed me some bullshit about _'the women's network'_! Speaking of that, we need to have a guy's network moment. Let's just get down to the point, alright?" Chad stopped speaking for a moment to look over at Troy, noting that he nodded his head for the curly afro man to continue, "What's going on between you and Gabriella?"

"What do mean? There's not much to tell." Deep down, Troy knew exactly what Chad wanted to know and he would tell him, but he wasn't going to give it out so easily. If Chad really wanted to get Troy's insight, he would have to dig and dig deep, like how he tried to when asking about Pam, which Troy was more than happy about the change of subject.

"Don't try feeding me that bullshit too. I know you, Troy. We go way back and beyond so you cant pull a fast one on me like that, especially if its visible for everyone to notice so don't try denying it either." Chad pointed a finger at Troy to prove his point. The ocean blue of Troy's eyes twinkled with amusement from his friend's accusations…which were true. He knew he couldn't deny anything because he knew that Chad was right…but he didn't think it was _that_ noticeable for the world to see.

"Fine…you win." Troy raised his hands as if to surrender before he continued. "I guess I cant really deny feeling something for her again," he looked back to check on the girls, seeing that they were still involved in their own world he elaborated his emotions out to Chad. "Ever since last night, seeing her again for the first time in a long time has just been so impacting on me. Before you guys even came, I had been thinking about her nonstop – ask Kelsi if you don't believe me. Anyway, it was like all my thoughts about her as been a sign that she was coming, that she was going to be right here in the flesh right before my very own eyes. It feels like fate is trying to give me another chance at what I was stupid enough to let go of before but I'm not sure if fate had good timing." Troy confessed, confusion written all over his face.

"Does fate's timing have anything to do with Pam?" Chad curiously asked. He glanced at Troy's face, question marks glittering in his eyes.

"Something like that." Troy kept his answer simple. He didn't want to give more information than what was necessary.

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you feel about Pam?"

Troy stood quiet as he contemplated his answer. He knew deep down that he loved his wife but lately he would question just how strong it was, especially last night more than ever because all it took was one look at Gabriella to make him weak in the knees, to feel his heart race, to make his lips go dry, and for the air around him to feel sucked out leaving him without a breath. If she had that much of an intense impact on him, how could his wife stand a chance? But that was the thing, she was his wife…he had no way to get out that bond that they shared, that they promised. Troy didn't remember the last time he felt the way he did for Gabriella for Pamela. He felt so lost about the situation, but how could he be? Gabriella had only been there for about a day and a half – and he had only seen her last night and for the little bit of today. Could he really be that infatuated? To everyone else, it was obvious that he was…but to Troy, he knew he shouldn't have even felt that way because for him it was like cheating although he had done nothing wrong. He really did love Pam, but was Gabriella's force strong enough to make him think otherwise?

"Pam? Honestly dude, I don't know. Like I really do have feelings for her and we've been 'involved' for a long time now so I really care about her, you know? She's always been there for me and she supports what I do, even if it means that I'm not around often. I mean, I live with her and so far it's been great – don't mention that I live with her to Gabriella. She even gave me a dog, Mugsy. But like, seeing Brie has got me asking myself 'What if? What could've been if I didn't leave?' It's like Brie's an addiction or my special dose of ecstasy; I'm hooked. Not one day has gone by that she didn't casually pop into my head…not one day. It's just weird that lately she's being popping up a lot and like I said before, it felt like a sign. Truth be told, I don't think I was ever able of actually letting her go. Maybe I locked her away into the back of my mind but seeing her here as opened that up again and there she is…taking control of my head." When Troy finished letting out his thoughts, he looked over at Chad. He nervously chuckled from the bewildered expression on the tan man.

"Dude, you need to tell her." Chad advised.

"There's a lot of things that I have to tell her…" Troy mumbled, thinking about his love life situation that Gabriella deserved to know most, that one detail that he left out for both her and Chad – marriage. Before Chad could even ask what Troy meant by that, he stopped his steps along with the ocean blue eyed man who turned around and faced the females behind him.

"Alright people, we made it."

"Finally! I thought that you guys were so into your conversation that you weren't paying attention to whether we passed it or not." Gabriella joked, chuckling at the nervous look that the boys gave each other. "What? Did Tay and me miss something?"

"No!" Chad quickly answered. "Lets go inside."

Taylor gave him a quizzical look as Gabriella shrugged her shoulders.

'Gabriella might have let that one slide but I'm on to those guys…they're hiding something.' Taylor thought to herself.

Everyone, minus Troy, faces lit up with excitement when they entered the enormous Toys 'R' Us. They had never seen anything like it for it was just too big to be a toy store. Troy stood back at they walked a few steps ahead of him, giggling at their reactions.

"This place is amazing! How many stories high is this?" Taylor asked, looking back at Troy. He walked over to them before he answered.

"Its three stories high and it has a lower level, so it has four floors."

"Four floors of toys?" Chad asked with such an amusement in his voice that everyone had to grin at this. "Oh…my…god! There's a Ferris wheel inside here too? Dude, that's insane!" The group followed Chad to the railing around the edge of the level, admiring the Ferris wheel in front of them. He looked over the edge and towards the bottom level, seeing that that was where all the video games were. "Come on Bolton, you and me are heading towards the games."

Gabriella and Taylor rolled their eyes at his statement. Something's were never going to change for the boys. "Boy's will be boy's." Taylor said, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"Tell me about it. You guys could head down to the games…Tay and I will walk around here for a bit and see what else is here. We'll meet you guy's down there though when we're done, okay?" Gabriella reasoned. She honestly didn't have much of a thing for video games unless it was out of competition so considering that this wasn't one of those times, she saved herself and Taylor from boredom.

"Sure thing. Call us if anything." Troy said, giving both a warm smile before following Chad to the escalator to the lower level.

"What do you think the guys were talking about before?" Taylor asked her bestfriend while walking to the escalator that led to the upper level.

"I don't know…and I don't think I want to." Gabriella said, chuckling from the memory of their nervous faces. They stood in silence as they went up, each having a smile spread across their face when they made it.

"Is that a huge Barbie House I see over there?" Gabriella asked, not being able to believe her eyes. They were on the third level. It was an enormous floor that contained the Barbie's and action figures all over. Each department had an elaborate design for the section it represented. The Barbie section had a Barbie house and everything was pink. The Lego section had tables of Lego's for kids to play with and displays of things made from the Lego's. The Jurassic Park area had a creepy electronic dinosaur about twenty to forty feet tall.

"My goodness, it is! What are we waiting for, let's go!" Taylor said back, wrapping her arm within Gabriella's as they jogged towards the Huge life sized house that was filled with dolls inside and out. They giggled at each other, reliving years that they could never get back. Each one felt like a little girl again, embracing the feeling of what it must've been like to be in kindergarten again.

"I love it here! It's so…amazing. I don't even feel like an adult right now." Gabriella admitted, walking along the aisle and staring at the wall of dolls, feeling the urge to open one of the boxes and play with the doll that it held inside. Instead, she reached inside her purse and pulled out her camera, signaling Taylor over to take pictures with her.

"I know what you mean. I feel the same way right now actually." The dark skinned girl said back. Remembering the childhood times also reminded Taylor of her teen years, which brought up Gabriella and Troy into her mind. She smirked before she turned to Gabriella and asked, "So Ms. Montez, what was with that hug that was a little too long before?"

"Tay, it's nothing, really. Troy and I might have feelings for one another or at least I'm assuming that he feels the same, but anyway it's not like anything could be done, right?" Gabriella's insecurities were getting the best of her.

"Why can't anything be done?" Taylor didn't completely understand her friend's meaning behind her statement. She was unsure of just what the Latin beauty was getting at.

"Troy's _'involved'_ right now to some chick named Pam. He told me about her last night when we were walking to the restaurant…and I don't know. At first I was hurt by it but then I thought it wasn't a big deal to at least flirt with him anyway because it cant be that serious if he used the word involved. But then I thought about it again and I realized that I'm just going to leave in about two days from now…where could that possibly lead to? Me just leaving this time and disappearing. No matter how badly I just want to hold his hand or kiss those lips of his, I know it wouldn't be right because all the signs are pointing to another direction. I don't want to lead him on if I can't full deliver." Gabriella expressed her thoughts out and felt the weight of the world being lifted from her tiny frame. She let out a sigh of defeat, her mind seeming to win the mental battle she had going on.

Taylor nodded her head understanding what her friend was saying. She didn't want to push her any further by saying something else because she knew that what Gabriella said was the right thing. Maybe it was best for her to not try to be too friendly with Troy because that would lead to future drama and trouble. "We'd better go find the guys, or at least Chad before he wastes his money on a game that he doesn't even need."

"You're right. He could use the cash for gas or food or the hotel. Lets get going, McKessie." Gabriella grabbed onto Taylor's arm and pushed through the crowd towards the escalators, riding it two stories down to find the guys. Once they finally reached the bottom level, their eyes scanned frantically. Spotting a super curly afro in the distance, Taylor walked ahead with Gabriella following closely behind.

"There you guys are! We've been looking all over for you!" Chad exclaimed, earning a chuckle from Troy.

"I'm sure you have…" Taylor replied, not breaking a smile at his sarcasm.

"So you guys done with the games?" Gabriella asked with a hint of hopeful glitter in her eyes. Troy noticed and nodded his head while Chad pouted with disappointment. Montez won that war easily.

"Good because I want to go on the Ferris wheel!" She happily squealed with such excitement that the other three couldn't help but giggle at her child like ways. Grabbing Taylor's arm once again, she dragged her over towards the center of the bottom level where the surprisingly short line was. The guys followed behind.

"Uh…before people start to question Troy's and mine's sexuality, do you girls mind breaking it up for the ride? You know…one chick with one guy and the other chick with the other guy?" Chad bashfully asked, Taylor blushing the whole time thinking about how he glanced at her while asking.

"Yeah…sure. Fine by me." Gabriella said slowly, taking a step away from Taylor and stood next to Troy. She smirked the entire time as her skin began to heat up, anticipating being alone with Troy on a Ferris wheel…the romance of it all. But that thought quickly erased when she thought about what she told Taylor. 'You're not supposed to feel that way!' she scolded herself. The line quickly began to move, leaving Taylor and Chad before Gabriella and Troy.

Finally, the ebony woman and the caramel man were able to pay their ride and got into their carriage that was designed with animated characters. The two rode up, smiling as the wheel began to slowly spin.

"How many will it be?" The ride's conductor asked to charge the ride.

"Two please." Troy answered, signaling two fingers towards the man, who accepted the money and opened the gate for them to pass and enter their carriage.

"You know, you didn't have to do that." Gabriella said referring to him paying for her. He reached his hand out to help her onto the ride.

"I wanted to." Troy replied, entering behind her. Once they sat, Troy's eyes wandered over her legs up to her torso and stopped up on cleavage. His eyes gazed desirably upon her but quickly snapped out of his dirty personal thoughts before she could catch him staring. 'What are you doing, Bolton?! Control your hormones.' The Ferris wheel began to move again.

This was going to be one fun ride.

"What else do you have planned for us today? You know, after this?" Gabriella asked, her hands motioning to the surroundings as she spoke.

"I was thinking about taking the subway to another part of the city…or maybe outside the city somewhere…" Troy thought of where to take them but wasn't quite sure yet.

"Sounds good to me. I'm down for whatever you want to do." She didn't think about the other meaning behind those words when they slipped her mouth. The handsome actor looked over at her and caught the blush that rose among her cheeks. The twinkle in her eye causing him to silently gasp, taken aback from her all too familiar beauty.

'If only you knew the things I were down for right now…keep your mind out of the gutter, Troy! Ugh! Is that too hard? Seriously? Apparently it is…' Troy needed to control himself. Flirting wasn't going to hurt much though. "Was that a blush I saw? Are you embarrassed about something, _again_?" he was referring to how he caught her blush earlier at the lobby of the hotel.

Gabriella blushed again from his teasing. "Me? Blush from embarrassment? Wherever did you get that idea?" She was going to play along. 'If flirtatious teasing is what he wants and craves then that's what he'll get. Screw the involvement for now…' The seductress was about to break free from Gabriella's normal state of mind.

"Oh, I don't know…probably from the way your cheeks flushed with a pink color…kind of life your lips…" He slowly moved his index finger towards her cheek and caressed the smooth skin on her face, his eyes watched closely as hers fluttered closed from the sensation.

'Two could play this game.' She was going to get to him before he could get to her, or at least that was the plan. She opened her eyes and gazed back at him with a lustful glare. His breath hitched high in his throat. She pouted her full lips and gently glided her tongue along the slight opening of her bottom lip. His eyes narrowed at the sight. Gabriella felt such satisfaction when Troy couldn't rip his eyes off of her even if he tried. She took advantage of his dumbfounded state and seductively crossed her legs in his direction, lowering her eyes towards her limbs so that Troy's eyes would follow her lead.

'Damn those legs! Why? Why do they have to be so…_perfect_ and _incredibly sexy_?' Realizing that Gabriella was trying to torture him into losing the battle, Troy decided to step up his game by turning up the volume a few notches.

He inched closer to her side, causing Gabriella to snap her head up in surprise. Once he caught her eyes again, he didn't let go of her gaze. He admired how they were filled with such passion and erotic ecstasy, glazing over her vision and making her see nothing but a blur of heat. Troy took the look as his signal to continue with whatever he had up his sleeve. So he did. He reached his hand out and ran up along her leg from her ankle all the way to where the hem of her dress ended.

'Bolton, what are you doing? You're playing with fire and you know it. But how could I resist? She's just there and so fucking beautiful. She's like everything that I could still want…all of that is still within her. I know it is.' Troy pushed the voice of reasoning out of his head and off the Ferris wheel once they reached the top. He anticipated her next move since it was her turn. Suddenly the wheel stopped. Both were breathless from their game of teasing, their actions coming to a halt. Troy removed his hand from the top of her bare thigh, embarrassed. He looked away and over the edge of the carriage towards the ground below.

"How cliché is this? Stopping at the top of the Ferris wheel…" Gabriella thought aloud. She grinned and blushed from her surroundings, wondering if anyone from upper or middle levels had watched their public display.

"Well, it would actually be cliché if we were…a young horny couple or something along those lines." Troy tried to reason but failing miserably as it dawned on him that they looked and acted like a young horny couple just now. "Which we kind of looked like…"

"So you're referring to us as an overly stimulated couple?" Gabriella giggled, not noticing that they were using the word couple. Troy smiled at her, enjoying her soft and sweet laugh that echoed through his ears.

"I might've." Not even thinking about the wife he had, Troy got into the moment and stared into Gabriella's eyes again. He saw a longing look behind them and knew that his mirrored the same. "I missed you, Brie."

She was taken aback from his words. She frantically moved her eyes over his own to search for the emotions that she needed to see. She found sincerity, compassion, trust, but most of all an old love and that scared her. She wanted this but could she handle it? Mustering up her courage, she smiled tenderly at him. "I missed you too, Wildcat."

Troy truly felt content to know she felt the same at the moment…that she missed him too. He opened his arms and with his finger, he cooed her to move close to him. She felt the corner of her lips curve upwards as the blush rose among her cheeks once again. Finally in his arms again, she snuggled her head into his chest as he wrapped his warm muscled arms around her tiny frame. They both sighed from the enjoyment of the moment. The Ferris wheel began to move again.

"You smell so good…" Troy murmured into her hair as he deeply took in the scent of her.

Gabriella slightly picked her head up and leaned it towards his collarbone to take in his aroma as well. "You smell good too."

He chuckled from how innocent she seemed at the moment, a complete opposite from the seductive vixen she was only minutes ago. Neither wanted to let the other go but knew that it was only destined to happen since they were getting closer to the bottom.

Untangling herself from Troy's embrace, Gabriella sexily smirked at him. "I would've won that battle if the wheel didn't stop, by the way."

Today was definitely going to be interesting.

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**And there you have it! The tension of Troyella is starting to bubble...oh snap!  
**

**This is the longest chapter that I've written so far and it took me awhile to write this so I hope everyone is satisfied. I didn't read over it much so if I have any typing errors then please excuse them. Just as a heads up to everyone, my updates aren't going to be as quick as before because college is killing me right now. I got tons of things to worry about first but I promise that I will make time for this story because I have lots of ideas for it so far that I want to put into action. **

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! Don't forget to hit the button at the bottom...you know, the green one! lol **


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: I think it's that time to remind everyone that I don't own HSM characters as much as I would like to. I don't own the song in this chapter either, as much as i would like to own that too.  
_

The foursome soon left Toys 'R' Us and began to walk the sidewalks of New York City…again. They didn't have much of a destination since Troy still didn't know where to take them to next.

"I know! Let's go to Central Park!" Taylor excitedly suggested, glancing at the three faces that accompanied her.

"Central Park? Come on, Tay! Let's do something more exciting…like clubbing!" Chad argued unpleased with what she wanted to do. Taylor pouted in his direction.

"Actually, Central Park just might be a good idea to end off this chilled and relaxed day…besides Kelsi mentioned to me that there's some kind of benefit show going on there later. We can try the clubbing thing tomorrow though, man." Troy patted his friends back, attempting to let him down easy. Chad looked at him and rolled his eyes.

"The girl's always win with you!" He threw his hands up in the air to further express his frustration with an exaggerated sigh. Gabriella and Taylor giggled from his minor tantrum.

"Face it. You're just going to have to do what we say for tonight, got it Danforth?" Gabriella said with a sly smirk and a wink, earning a glare from Chad.

Before the two could break into an argument, Troy interrupted. "So let's go hit up those trains, shall we?" He caught the attention of the two beaming girls and the disappointed young man. "Sorry Chad…but I promise we can do that tomorrow…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." Chad grumpily replied as he followed behind the group towards the train station.

Troy looked around the area, eyeing the beautiful city that he called home. Across the big street, his eyes suddenly stopped and focused on a woman. She had her back to them and was holding onto the hand of a tall muscular man. She had long auburn hair that resembled his wife's.

'Nah…can't be Pam.' As if on cue, the female turned around, still clutching the hand of the man. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses, making it difficult for Troy to see who her identity was. Although she did look a lot like his wife, he gave her the benefit of the doubt. 'She's with her girl's today, she wouldn't do that to me…' Shaking his head as an attempt to forget those thoughts of his wife being unfaithful, Troy led the group down the staircase of the subway.

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The gang stepped off the train and headed towards the nearest exit of the subway. They walked up the stairs and were greeted by the near dark sky, as the sun was the middle of setting. They walked along towards the park in search of where the benefit show would be taking place. Unsure of where exactly it was, Troy called Kelsi.

"Hey Kels…I'm good, u?…that's good. Hey, remember that you mentioned a benefit show in Central Park tonight…well I'm here right now with Chad, Gabriella, and Taylor but I'm not sure where in the park its at…oh you're already there with Patrick…ok…alright…no problem…thanks Kelsi…see you in a bit…bye."

"Well?" Chad asked with anticipation in his voice.

"It's by the big fountain at the center of the park. Follow me." Troy instructed. Gabriella and Taylor shrugged their shoulders as they followed behind, leaving Chad to realize that they already started to walk ahead without him.

"Wait up!"

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Minutes later after their long walk to the center of the park, they finally arrived. The stage was about forty feet away from the enormous fountain but it faced it. It was now dark out so the light posts surrounding them lit up the area along with the stage lights. The trees glistened for they were decorated with white and blue Christmas lights. Overall the scenery looked quite romantic yet fun.

"Where's Kelsi?" Taylor asked, furrowing her brows as she stepped on her tip toes to look through the crowd.

"Not sure, but I do know she's around here somewhere. We'll eventually find her. Let her have her fun with Patrick for now." Answered Troy. A Moment later, the lighting of the stage dimmed as the first performer, a girl who appeared to be about nineteen, stepped onto the stage with her band. The crowd started to slowly bop their heads and sway from side to side as the light rock music began to play. From the crowd's movement, Gabriella was able to spot Kelsi not too far away.

"Hey you guys, Kelsi is standing right over there!" Everyone turned towards where Gabriella was pointing and saw Kelsi standing holding the hand of a guy who was towering over her; both were smiling from whatever they were talking about. "If that's Patrick, then I must say he's pretty cute from over here. They look good together."

Troy thought about what she had just said and couldn't resist the urge to compare how cute he and Gabriella must've looked back then. 'Would we still look cute now? We must, I mean neither of us have changed all that much…we just dress better now…Ok now I'm freaking myself out. I'm thinking about how cute we would look and our clothes! There goes my metro sexual side…not cool.'

Chad, Taylor, Gabriella, and Troy each laced their fingers through the others to make their way through the crowd towards Kelsi and Patrick. Gabriella couldn't deny feeling a slight spark and twist sensation inside the pit of her stomach from feeling Troy's hand hold hers, even if it wasn't romantically. She blushed when he looked back at her with a smirk on his face, most likely feeling the way that she did.

It was like old times.

Moments later, Chad being the one to lead the gang, tapped Kelsi's shoulder causing her to turn around in surprise. Patrick furrowed his brows and put on a face to intimidate the caramel toned man. Noticing that her boyfriend was trying to defend her, Kelsi put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at Chad.

"Chad! You guys found us! Hey Gabs, Tay, Troy!" She shouted. The band was really getting into the loud music as they began their second song. "Patrick I would like for you to meet my friends! This is Chad, Taylor, and Gabriella! I went to high school with them back in Albuquerque! This is Troy, he went to high school with us too but he also works with me at the show! Everyone this is Patrick!" she introduced everyone, beaming the entire time.

"Hey Pat! Nice to finally meet you, Kelsi has mentioned you a lot!" Troy shouted back and shook the man's hand. Patrick gave a warm smile at the crew realizing they didn't mean any harm. He put his arm around Kelsi's shoulder as she snuggled into him. The foursome stood and watched, each envying what they shared…well Troy didn't need to do much envying since he had that but no one knew. But he did wish it were with someone else. Someone with long wavy dark curls, dark chocolate eyes, and a bright smile that lit up any room.

Gabriella and Taylor smiled at the pair, cooing at how adorable they seemed. Chad simply rolled his eyes from their reactions as Troy chuckled. As the minutes went by, they all stood in a comfortable silence staring at the stage and the performers upon it. They swayed to each song and clapped as each one ended. They really did enjoy the atmosphere and the vibe of the setting…it was relaxing actually.

The band finally finished their part of the show as a solo artist stepped onto the stage holding his guitar. He pulled the microphone post towards him and sat upon a stool. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties and had a very scruffy look to him. His clothing appeared to be a bit grungy but nonetheless, he looked good enough for any girl to fall for him. He was one of those heartthrobs of a musician with a mysterious bad boy side.

Looking into the crowd, he grabbed his guitar and spoke into the microphone. "Hey, how's everybody doing tonight?" The crowd answered by cheering. "Sounds good. So I'm going to bring the rock out mood down a bit and settle for something more soothing." With that said, he began to strum his guitar.

Being that it was a slow song, Patrick grabbed Kelsi's hand and led her to the open part for dancing in front of the stage. Quick to follow the lead, Chad bowed down in front of Taylor as she gracefully accepted his invitation to join him.

Troy felt nervous being alone again with Gabriella as their friend's left them behind. He looked away and avoided her eyes, glancing every so often just to catch her staring at him with a smirk.

"Are you expecting me to ask you to dance?" He playfully asked, earning a nudge on his shoulder. He couldn't feel his heart beat when he saw the excitement in her eyes, twinkling with a desire to be in his arms…or was he just dreaming it?

"Well it would be nice if you did." She grinned at him, laughing on the inside from his nervous look. Nope, Troy didn't imagine it. She did want him to ask her.

Mustering up the courage, Troy held his hand out in front of him. Gabriella gave him a warm smile as she placed her hand in his. It was like an electric shot running through their veins. Neither could deny the chemistry that was still there nor the blush that rose on their cheeks. Troy led her to the front where everyone else was and over to the middle. He placed both hands on her waist while she rested hers around his neck. They slowly swayed along to the sound of the musician's voice as he began to sing.

_What day is it _

_And in what month _

_This clock never seemed so alive _

_I can't keep up and I can't back down _

_I've been losing so much time _

Troy looked deeply into Gabriella's eyes. He searched for how she felt at this moment, searching for a reflection of his own feelings. But she wasn't going to let him see. She kept her gaze watching Chad and Taylor or Patrick and Kelsi, glancing back at Troy every so often but not long enough for him to hold her gaze.

_Cause it's you and me and all of the people _

_With nothing to do, nothing to lose _

_And it's you and me and all of the people and _

_I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you _

_All of the things that I want to say _

_Just aren't coming out right _

_I'm tripping on words_

_You got my head spinning _

_I don't know where to go from here _

She finally let her eyes stop on Troy, allowing him access to her deepest feelings and to read her soul. Troy gasped as he saw her emotions shine brightly at him, mirroring what he felt. He saw the raw passion that she had as a flame was lit within her. A flame that was a signal that she desired him just as much as he desired her. His stomach began to do somersaults from the happiness that he found hard to contain…yet he was also nervous. Nervous because here she was, showing him what she feels and he knew he felt the same, but nothing could be done. Troy was married, but not to the woman that he first loved, Gabriella.

_Cause it's you and me and all of the people _

_With nothing to do, nothing to prove _

_And it's you and me and all of the people and _

_I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off you _

_Something about you now _

_I can't quite figure out _

_Everything she does is beautiful _

_Everything she does is right_

As Gabriella stared intently at the man before her eyes, she listened closely to the words of the song. She broke down its beautiful meaning and couldn't help but to let her sensitive side come out. Tears began to surface at the corner of her eyes and she looked away to hide them from Troy.

She wasn't quick enough.

Noticing, Troy took his hand and grabbed her chin for her to look at him. Seeing that she was about to cry broke his heart into a million pieces since he was unsure of why she suddenly wanted to cry. He figured it was because of Pam.

_Cause it's you and me and all of the people_

_With nothing to do, nothing to lose _

_And it's you and me and all of the people and _

_I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of_

"Gabi, what's wrong?" he questioned with such a soft voice that it could barely be heard.

"It's nothing, really…" She answered, failing miserably to hide it from Troy.

"Don't give me that. What is it?" Troy pressed on hoping to get a valid answer. He might have not seen her for years but he knew she was still the same girl that he fell in love with all those years ago. He still knew her far too well.

"It's the song…makes me think, you know? Troy, I know I already told you today but I really did miss you. You have no idea how much I did and still do. You have no idea how much I hurt when you left to come here without wanting to try again…" she choked out on the verge on tears.

"Shhh its ok Gabi. I've missed you too…like crazy. And I'm so sorry that I was the one responsible for hurting you the way I did. I never meant to, honest. It hurt me too to just leave you like that when I did and I honestly can say that I do regret it…a lot. It's not like I didn't want to try again because I did…I was just selfish and thinking about myself at the time and about what I wanted for my future. Not that I didn't want you in my future, but I was thinking about my career." She tearfully stared at him, determined to not let the water works splash out of her eyes. "There isn't one day that goes by when you aren't on my mind, even if it's just for a second. I'm really sorry, Gabriella. I really am. If I could go back in time and fix things I would, in the blink of an eye. You being here is enough to make me want to pick up where we left off but I just can't, not now at least. I hope you understand that." Troy finished his speech and reached his hand up to wipe away the tear the managed to escape her eyes.

"Let's just enjoy the moment while its here, ok? That's all I really want right now…" Gabriella asked. Troy nodded his head in agreement to her request. He pulled her closer as she rested her head against his chest for the remainder of the song, listening to his steady heartbeat.

_You and me and all of the people _

_With nothing to do, nothing to prove and _

_It's you and me and all of the people and _

_I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you_

_What day is it_

_And in what month _

_This clock never seemed so alive_

Gabriella lifted her head from its spot on Troy's shoulder; she looked at him with a look as if to plead him. She appeared as a desperate young girl asking for a cookie from her mom but that was way off target from what Gabriella wanted. She was asking him to show her how to love again and remind her of what it felt like. Seeing everything that she wanted, Troy couldn't be the one to deny her request knowing that he wanted to be the one to fulfill it.

He leant down ever so slowly towards her face, watching as her breath hitched and her eyes flutter close. His own eyes began to slowly droop down as he inched closer towards her lips, anticipating the moment that he'd wanted since before coming to New York; the moment that would finally be his. He was barely four centimeters from her face when a hand grasped his shoulders.

"Come on, dude. I think you did enough of sweeping the gal off her feet for a bit." Chad interrupted, oblivious to what was about to happen.

Gabriella glared at him with a scowling expression. Chad still didn't catch on. He was never good with his timing. Boy was he going to get an ear full later on from Gabriella.

Troy untangled his arms from around her tiny waist as she did the same with her hands that were on his neck.

"Uh…Chad? Remind me to have a talk with you later." Troy said. Look's like Troy was going to let him have it too.

"Sure…anything bad?" Chad asked, looking back at the twosome with annoyed looks on their faces.

"Something like that…" Troy mumbled. Gabriella gave him one last glance before she walked towards Kelsi, Patrick, and Taylor.

Seeing that Gabriella had a pissed off look, Taylor questioned it. Little did Gabriella know, everyone already knew the answer for they watched the whole display.

"I'm just going to kill Chad! That's all…ugh, Taylor you should really hold him back when it comes to certain situations." Gabriella began to let out the steam that had just built up.

"Chad insisted on bringing you guys over to us. You know how he gets when he's anxious and has his mind set on a goal. If only he were like that back when it came to his school work…" Taylor chuckled at her own joke.

"Yeah but he shouldn't do it when _special_ things are about to happen…" The brunette replied. She was still upset from his actions.

"I know…we all saw the thing that was going to happen…" Kelsi said with a grin to go along with it.

"Yep, and there are pictures here on my trusty camera of the moment. Just for your viewing pleasure…" Taylor added. Gabriella blushed as the girls began to tease her. The familiar feeling of butterflies came back again as she glanced back at the boys and saw them walking towards the group.

She looked directly at Taylor as she said, "Hopefully if it happens again, Chad will be kept busy."

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**Leave it to Chad to mess things up! Got to love him for that, or do you? lol Pam was almost caught! Too bad for poor Troy that he couldn't find out for sure though..sucks. I wasn't really too enthusiastic with how this chapter came out but I felt it was good enough to post since I've had you guys waiting for a few days now. I hope you guys liked it! Lets see where the next chapter takes us...**

**By the way, for those of you who are wondering about the song I used, It's by Lifehouse. It's called 'You and Me'...it's one of my absolute all time favorite songs. I plan to dance that with whoever I marry as our first dance at the reception lol And whoever I marry will enjoy it because he has no say into picking the song since I already did it...I'm guessing I sound pretty insane, huh? Anyway, enough of my rambling...  
**

**Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So here's the next chapter. I wanted to point out something that I found to be a coincidence: In this chapter I show about of how Kelsi feels about the Troyella situation and Canada4ever had questioned me about it on the last chapter! It feel's good to know that the readers are interested on the story and don't want to miss a detail. It encourages me to make sure i get each thing set correctly, so thanks! Anyway, read up on the chapter! I hope you guys like it!**

* * *

"Chad, why did you have to just kill that certain moment yesterday?" Gabriella asked as she sprawled herself along the bed next to Taylor. They just came back from their last day of site seeing since they were to leave tomorrow.

"For the last time Gabbi, I'm sorry. I didn't notice that you guys were about get hot and heavy…honest. If I could've stopped myself from being anxious and trying to bring you guys over towards us then I would've." Chad apologized for the twentieth time that day.

"Look on the bright side, you guys still have tonight."

"He's got a point, Gabriella. Besides, we're going clubbing. That's more than an excuse to let your body get frisky with his." Taylor teased as she wiggled her brows, gaining a blush from her friend's cheeks.

"Tay, stop it. I don't want to come off as easy and have to do slut moves on him for something to happen." Gabriella tried defending.

"No one ever said that you had to get provocative with your dance moves, that just means that you want to if you got all defensive." Taylor laughed as she accused the petite-framed Latin of her true morals.

"She got you there." Chad chimed in, wanting to be part of the banter.

"Alright, screw you guys and whatever you guys say. I'm going to start getting ready. I'll be in the shower if you guys need me. Behave while I'm gone…" Gabriella smirked at the two since she knew how they felt for each other…it was obvious to anyone with eyes. The two blushed a deep scarlet tone at her words and glanced away as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

"Is it me or does she thinks something's going on?" Chad asked, trying his best to hide that he did feel something for Taylor.

"Probably does…that girl is just crazy to think that…" She replied, hiding her own feelings as well. If Chad wouldn't fess up then neither would she. It wasn't in her nature to make the first move. Besides, that wasn't one of the rules that her sister taught her about dating back when she was a teenager.

"Speaking of crazy, isn't it early to start getting ready? There is still two and half hours until it's time to go out!" Chad said. His face was confused as he thought about it. Why do girls always take so long?

"Oh sweetie, don't you know that tonight is a big night? Tonight is the last night she's going to see Troy since we're leaving tomorrow. Tonight is the last time they'll see each other until Lord knows when. Tonight is the night where something might go down between the two…duh. Besides, it's a girl thing" Taylor stated as though it were the most obvious thing, which it would be obvious if he were an understanding female.

"Is that why you used to take forever to get ready for our dates back when _we_ were dating?" Chad amusingly asked, pointing back and forth between them.

Taylor blushed at his question. "Maybe…something like that."

"You just wanted to look good for me, McKessie! Admit it." He was now sitting on the bed that was across from where she was sitting. He bounced enthusiastically on the mattress with a wide smile from ear to ear.

"You're so obnoxious sometimes." She scoffed. "Now that we're talking about this, was I not worth getting that dressed up for back then?" She narrowed her eyes and accused him with a certain attitude in her tone.

"Yeah, you were…but the thing is, I'm a guy, just plain and simple. I'm not a metro; I'm your ordinary guy's guy. Guy's don't take forever to get ready for things…it's not in our blood to do that." Chad replied, laying back on the bed as he folded his arms behind his head for it to rest against.

"Excuse me, Mr. I must keep the man inside me alive! It doesn't make you queer or anything to put more effort or time into your look. The term 'metro' is just a stereotype, Chad. Why pay that any mind?" Taylor questioned. She was curious as to what made his mind tick the way it did.

"Because that's just it, Tay. We live in a world where today's society is quick to judge and point fingers at whatever they think is different for either gender. Like a girl can't be that athletic without some people wondering if she's a lesbian…or a guy can't be a hair dresser or stylist without being questioned if he's gay. That's just how the world is and I don't want people to judge me on the little things like how they do to everyone else. I just want to be Chad, the basketball player." He was serious. This was one of those times when Chad wasn't playing around or joking. This was one of the times when he had to open up and show the side of him that could take conversations to a higher level.

Taylor always secretly admired that side. He could be pretty intelligent whenever he wanted to be.

"That was deep." That was all she could manage to get out.

Chad glanced over at her and smirked. "Yeah well a specific someone taught me that there's a time to be serious and a time to mess around. Not everything is always about fun and games. Thanks for teaching me that one."

"Your welcome, Danforth." Taylor looked over at him, her eyes gleaming from the heartfelt moment they just shared. "Do you want to take a walk around the hotel? Maybe check out the gift shop in the lobby while we wait for Gabriella to finish so we could soon start?"

"Good suggestion. Let's get a move on."

* * *

"You don't tell her my big secret, did you Kels?" Troy was pacing around the living room of his shared apartment. He was having a conversation on his cell phone with his long time friend.

_"Of course not. It's your job to fill her in on that HUGE detail that you haven't let out yet. By the way, you're going to have to tell Gabriella about that soon…"_

"I know, I know. It's just not that easy though, you know? If only it were...it just sucks too because she's leaving tomorrow and I don't want to leave on a bad note." He ran a frustrated hand through his locks and continued pacing.

_"I know, Troy. But it isn't fair to her that you've been holding all this back while she's been open and honest to you this whole time that she's been here. She hasn't seen your ring, has she?"_

"Thankfully she hasn't. The night at the lobby of the show when we ran into them, I wasn't wearing my ring. I haven't been wearing my ring this whole weekend whenever I'm with them. If I did then I'm sure Taylor and Gabriella would have been on to me by now. I wouldn't worry about Chad; he's usually oblivious to things…" he scoffed.

_"True. Just make sure you tell her soon. Look, if telling her face to face is that difficult then why don't you write it out to her in a letter?"_

"Because that just makes me a coward…a lying coward. She deserves to hear it from me rather than to read it."

"_I suppose. Are you going to do it today or tomorrow before they leave?"_

"Hopefully tonight. I just want to tell her as soon as possible because I don't think I can hold it in for that much longer. It's hard enough to hold back on my urge to just kiss her, let alone tell her I'm married. I just need to get it off my chest and out of my conscience before it eats me alive." Troy admitted. Just then, he heard the sound of the apartment door being unlocked. "I think Pam's here. I'll let you go, talk to you later?"

_"Sure thing. Call me after everything happens. Later."_

"Bye." With that, Troy hung up his cell phone as Pam walked into the living room with an excited Mugsy following close behind. "Hey baby."

"Hey sweetheart. I haven't seen much of you lately. I've missed you." Pam said as she sauntered towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She leaned her face towards his and gave him a gentle peck.

"I've missed you too, babe." Troy replied as he looked lovingly down into her eyes. "What are your plans for tonight, Pam?"

"Actually, I was thinking about spending the night at my mom's house. I haven't seen her in awhile. I hope you don't mind." She looked at him with hopeful eyes, disguising where we all know she's going to actually be at.

"Not that I mind because I don't, but didn't you see your mom the other day? You know, when I came home you were on the phone with her…didn't you make plans to see her the day after?" he was confused.

Quick to recover, Pam went straight into damage control. "Yea I did but its not often that I see her. Besides, she's not feeling that well and I want to take care of her for the night, in case something happens."

"Okay then. I hope she gets better soon…send her my wishes." Troy said as he entangled himself from his wife's grasp and walked over to Mugsy to pet their dear son.

"I'm going to start packing my overnight bag. Be in the room if you need me." She left the living room and walked down the hall that led to their bedroom.

"Is it me, or has your mother been extremely busy lately? Nah, I'm probably just over thinking things. I shouldn't even be the one to talk because she's out working and taking care of others while I'm out and about with people behind her back." Troy spoke to Mugsy. The dog simply glanced at him, not sure of what was going on.

About a half hour later, Pamela emerged from the bedroom and encountered Troy sitting on the sofa watching television with their pet. "Baby, I'm going to get a move on. I'll call you later."

"Sure thing. I'll see you tomorrow." He stood up from his spot on the sofa and walked over to where she stood. "Love you." He kissed her passionately and walked her towards the door. They bid their goodbyes and she was gone shortly after.

"Better start getting ready."

* * *

An hour and a bag full of souvenirs later, Chad and Taylor rode the elevator up to their floor, anticipating to start getting ready for their last night out on the town.

"You think she's almost ready?" the handsome athlete asked.

"She should be halfway done," answered Taylor.

"I hope so because I already know that you both voted me last to start getting ready."

"Does it matter? You're a man's man anyway, remember?" she teased.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…that doesn't mean that I don't want to enjoy a nice warm shower right about now."

They stopped their bantering once they reached the door of their hotel room. Taylor removed the room's key from her back pocket and slid it for them to unlock the door. Upon entering, they found Gabriella standing by the wall next to the mirror with a curling iron in hand.

"Almost ready, Gabs?" Chad intently stared at her as she did wonders with the device on her hair.

"Not exactly. I just started working on my hair a few minutes ago so I should be done here within' the next half hour. Then after that I have to do my makeup and actually put on my outfit." She said as though it were no big deal.

"Gabriella, we were gone for an hour. What the heck did you actually get done then?" He was so confused as to what she could have possibly been doing.

"Chad, didn't we go through this already? Girls need to pamper themselves fully when it comes to prepping ourselves for big events…tonight equals a big event." Taylor explained – again.

"Thanks, Taylor. At least someone understands…and if you must know, I was showering and picking out the outfit that I will be wearing. Satisfied?" the brunette raised her brows as she finished her sentence.

"I guess so. Besides, if I don't accept your answer then I'm just going to have to deal with you and Tay ganging up on me and I don't feel like battling you two right now."

"Good choice." Taylor chimed.

As Gabriella continued working with her hair, Taylor began to pick out her own outfit, deciding on a pair of black skinny jeans and a sheer ruffled top with different shades of blue. She picked out clean undergarments and headed towards the bathroom with everything in hand. To keep himself busy, Chad rested himself against the headboard of the bed and flipped on the television and surfed for a game to watch. The two stood in silence only to have it broken every so often from Chad's constant yelling at the screen from the game.

Twenty minutes later, Taylor stepped out of the bathroom with her outfit on. "You almost finish with the curling iron Gab's? I'm want to make my hair wavy tonight."

"Indeed I am. It's all yours." She stood up and handed the curling iron over to her friend.

"Chad, it's your turn for the bathroom." Taylor said before she began to work on her hair.

"Yeah just give me sec…the game's getting good." He didn't even tear his eyes away from the screen as he responded. He was just that into it.

"Chad Danforth! We barely have that much time left so we would appreciate it if you took advantage of that and hurry your butt into that bathroom now!" she scolded.

"Fine…gosh." He flipped the TV off and grabbed a simple pair of dark blue jeans, a red button down shirt, and a white t-shirt for under. He stalked into the bathroom, annoyed from being yelled at. While Taylor continued curling her hair, Gabriella stripped herself of her t-shirt and shorts. She picked up the fuchsia strapless mini-dress that she had sprawled on the bed and put it on, zipping the back of it up. She paired it with strappy silver heels and a long silver necklace. Then she pulled out her compact from inside her purse against the night table and began to work on her face. Minutes later, she was done and so was Taylor.

"Tay, what do you think? Is it a little much?" She bit her lip from the insecure feeling that was building up in her stomach.

"Are you kidding me? Its _perfect!_ You look gorgeous. You most defiantly will be knocking Troy's socks off, girl." Taylor replied while scanning her eyes up and down her friend's slim figure.

"You sure? I could always change-"

"And this insecure talk is coming from the editor of one of the _biggest_ up and coming fashion magazines?" Taylor raised her brows and smirked at the humor and irony of the situation.

"I suppose you're right." Gabriella turned and looked at herself in the mirror. "I do look pretty damn good!"

"You do!" Taylor encouraged.

"Troy's eyes are going to fly out of his sockets when he lays them on me!"

"You could say that again."

"When he sees me, he's going to be like 'Pam who?'"

"Preach on Gabbi, preach on."

"I'm going to get what I want tonight. I will enjoy my evening with Bolton and make him wish he never left Albuquerque!" Gabriella was so into her pep talk that she didn't notice how loud her voice had became.

"That's the spirit!" Chad said as he walked out of the bathroom with his clothes on. The girl's jumped from surprise at the interruption.

"Jesus! You scared the crap out of me." Gabriella held her hand to her chest to calm its fast beating.

"Well then I guess you better get started on cleaning it up if you don't want to be late for your oh so important date." Chad joked. Gabriella mentally sent daggers at him as she glared. "Sorry?"

"I've had enough of the word 'sorry' from you today. Just promise me that tonight if I'm alone with Troy at any moment, you won't come near us or do anything that could stop whatever could happen. Deal?"

"Deal."

Chad slipped on his white sneakers as Taylor put on her electric blue pumps. The girls each put their small necessities into their clutches and headed for the door.

"So where are we meeting Troy this time?" Taylor asked.

"He wants us to meet him in Time Square in front of the MTV store." The three walked in silence down the few blocks towards Time Square. They gazed up at the bright lights that shined all around for it was the last time they would see them. They took pictures every so often until they finally saw Troy ahead.

"Oh…my…word." Gabriella slowly let out a breath as she checked him out. He was wearing a gray long sleeve v-neck shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dark khaki jeans, and white vans. His bright blue eyes just looked even brighter with the way that the city's lights shined on. She had to fight to contain her composure and once she managed to, she continued to walk towards him.

Troy turned his head and saw the gang walking in his direction. His eyes quickly landed on Gabriella.

'Just when I thought she couldn't get more gorgeous she just had to prove me wrong. I swear this girl will never cease to amaze me.' He silently admired how her tan skin glowed in the night, her plumped lips shiny from the gloss, her hair bouncing with each step, and her long legs looking good enough to lick. She was just radiant…and apparently she wasn't the only one to feel star struck from the other's appearance.

"Hey Hoops." Chad pulled his long time friend into a man hug. Taylor said her hello with a kiss on the cheek as well as Gabriella.

"So tonight I'm going to take you guys to one of the best clubs in town. It's called _'Club O'_." Troy said.

"What does the 'O' stand for? Is it for like Orange? Original? Orgasmic?" Chad was very serious when he asked and everyone knew he was. They all just shook their heads from his stupid yet serious question.

"What the hell do I know? I'm not the one who manages it." Troy retorted. They all chatted and walked together as they made their way over to the club. They made their way over to the bouncers and were able to skip the line and enter since Troy used his status to get them in. Once inside, they went upstairs to the balcony and settled on a table that overlooked the entire lower level.

"Yo man, this place is awesome!" Chad could barely contain his excitement as he furiously bopped his head to the music. The others couldn't control their laughter from the way his curly do moved. Minutes later, the guys left to the bar to get drinks and headed back towards the girls.

Downing numerous rounds of drinks through casual conversations, they went downstairs to the dance floor. Chad quickly grabbed Taylor's hand and led her to the crowded floor.

Troy looked over at Gabriella with such a lustful look behind his eyes; she couldn't refuse his silent offer. She walked ahead of him, swaying her hips sexily and stopping at the middle of the dance floor. Troy followed behind, hypnotized by her seductive actions. There was no denying that she had him under her control and in the palm of her hand. He stood behind her and grabbed unto her hips, guiding them closer to him.

Gabriella didn't back away for this was what she wanted. She wanted a night of fun with Troy and this was her last chance to have it. She decided to be bold and press her backside against his lower half, grinding it slowly to the beat booming from the speakers.

Troy would've been lying if he said that he didn't enjoy that small action from her. He was turned on even though a certain detail was flashing in bright lights at the back of his mind: _You must tell her!_

That thought was pushed back further from the satisfaction he felt from the slight friction on his groin. He continued to hold onto her hips and bit his lip to stifle a moan. She leaned her back against him and rested her head against his shoulder. Caught up in the moment, Troy took the opportunity and nuzzled his face into the open crevice of skin on her neck. Gabriella smiled to herself, happy with what was going on. They were so into one another that didn't notice Chad and Taylor running back to the balcony where they were before and snapping pictures of them on the bottom.

Troy lightly feathered her skin with butterfly kisses from her crevice all the way to her cheek, where he gently pecked it. He then kissed his way from her cheek to her ear, nibbling softly on the skin. Gabriella closed her eyes and sighed while furrowing her brows in frustration that he didn't move his lips on hers yet.

"Let's get out of here." Troy suggested. His voice spoke huskily with desire into her ear. His hot breath danced against it and caused her to fall deeper into the lightly erotic moment. She simply nodded her head.

'Score for me!' she thought to herself. She wasn't going back to California without having a night to remember with Troy.

He grabbed hold of her hand and led her to the exit. Once they were outside, Troy took out his cell phone and started to right a text to Chad.

_Gabbi isn't feeling well anymore. I don't want to spoil your's and Tay's night so I'm going to take her back to the hotel. Have fun…not too much though ;0)_

A minute later he got a text back.

_Alright Hoops. Take care of her…not the perverted kind of care though lol Call us if anything. Later_

Troy chuckled from the text and grabbed a hold back on Gabriella's hand as they silently walked down the sidewalks of the city and back to the hotel. They made it to the hotel lobby and waited for the elevator, still silent. The elevator arrived and they stepped inside. Gabriella reached out to press the button of the floor of her shared room. From the corner of her eye, she could see Troy glancing at her every so often. At one point she blushed when she noticed that he didn't just glance; he started to stare. The sound of the bell to let them know they made it to the floor had knocked Troy out of his daze.

He suddenly became nervous. He had been anticipating this moment since the night of the show – scratch that; he's been anticipating it since they day they broke up. A moment for them to be alone once again.

Troy followed close behind while she guided him down the hallway. Reaching inside her clutch for the room key, she swiped it and walked inside, leaving the door wide open for him to follow. He closed the door behind him and pulled her by the arm around to face him. Before she could bother to say a word, Troy crashed his lips onto hers with desperation. This is everything he's wanted and more. How could he let the moment fly by without grasping it even for just a second? Especially since he knew that they both wanted it.

Gabriella fiercely ran her hands from his shoulder to the back of his neck, caressing the soft hairs that lingered there. She ran her tongue on his bottom lip as he eased it open to her, allowing her to invade his space. It was as though she was searching for something, a need in her force.

Troy ran his hands down her over sides and over her tiny waist. He lowered them further to her hips and down to her thighs, hooking his hands beneath them as he lifted her against his body. His tongue moved with hers in their fiery battle of tonsil hockey, each moaning and sighing from their anxious emotions finally getting what they've been craving for years. He carried her over to the wall, pressing her against it as he grinded his hard rock against her core. Troy lowered his lips from hers down to her neck, sucking on the soft skin. She couldn't hold back her moans. "Troy…"

Moving her from the wall, he carried her limp body towards the bed and gently plopped her down against it. Gabriella laid there as his body hovered over hers. Her lustful eyes stared at up at him while a small smirk lingered on her lips. The smirk was gone though when she noticed a confused look glaze over his once excited eyes.

"Troy?"

No response.

"Troy?"

Still nothing.

"Troy? Are you okay?" she gently shook his shoulder as he rolled off from the top of her, sitting of the edge of the bed. She sat beside him.

He looked away from her. The moment had come and he had to be completely honest to her before he fucked things up more than they already would've been. "Gabriella…I cant do this. This shouldn't have happened…" he mumbled as he looked down at his sinful hands.

"Do what? Troy if this is making you uncomfortable then it's okay, really-"

"I wasn't talking about this. This is great and its wonderful and its everything that I've wanted…it really is…" He glanced at her and saw the small smile tugging on the edges on her lips but he knew that what was coming was going to crush the bliss that they felt just moments before. "But it didn't feel 100% right like I would've imagined it to be…and I know this is cheesy and cliché but its not you at all, its me…Gabriella, remember I told you that I was involved?"

Gabriella's smile once again faltered as she became nervous from the way he was acting. She didn't quite understand what he was getting it but it dawned on her that it probably wasn't good. "Yes…"

Troy stood up and paced in front of her, contemplating how he was going to bring out the news. He stopped in his tracks directly in front of her. His body shook from the tension that was in the air.

He was nervous.

He looked at the confusion in her eyes and felt his heart crumble to a million pieces at the pit of his gut. 'Here goes nothing…'

He nervously reached into his back pocket and pulled out a ring. Hoping that she would get the message without him saying much, he slipped it onto his wedding finger. Ashamed and embarrassed from the situation, he refused to let his eyes land on hers knowing that they were probably going to be filled with hatred at any second.

Her breath hitched high in her throat. It felt as though all the air in the room was sucked out the moment he put the ring on his finger. She wasn't sure if she understood correctly but she did understand that the issue just became ugly as her blood boiled beneath her surface. Fiery heat radiated off her skin as she began to sweat from one of her worst fears becoming a reality. It hit her hard that she was just too late.

"Please don't let this be what you're trying to tell me…"

Where was Chad when you needed him? This definitely didn't seem like the way she wanted to remember her last night with Troy.

* * *

**She's putting the puzzle together! What's in store for the next chapter? You'll have to just wait and see BUT I will tell you this: There will be drama. What's a Troyella story without drama, right?**

**Anyway, if you guy's are interested in viewing the outfits that Gabriella and Troy wore, I have pictures to the links of them on my profile. Check it out and review! I want to know what you guys think of this so far so I could make my final decision of what exactly and how much drama I'm going to provide on the next one. It will be appreciated, thanks!**


	14. Chapter 14

"Please don't let this be what you're trying to tell me…"

"Gabriella, let me explain…" Troy reached his hand out to touch her arm but she quickly backed away as if he had some sort of contagious disease.

"Yeah you really should because I'm not sure what the hell is going on right now!" She shouted as her body began to shake from fear. She began to breathe deeply as she felt suffocated.

Troy didn't know where to begin.

He was lost for words.

He was scared for his dear life because frankly, she looked like she would kill him at any second. Normally, her looks would make him weak in the knees anyway and practically give him a heart attack, but this time she meant business. This time her looks could literally kill him and not in a good way.

"Any day now, Troy!" Gabriella was starting to become hysterical with impatience. She couldn't understand how things became so dramatically fucked up in less than an hour and she still didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

"Gabriella…just hear me out. I know this whole thing seems bad and it is, you have every right to see it that way because I don't blame you. Look, I never meant to hurt you in anyway that I have, never. It was never intentional-"

"Just get to the point! Please just tell me whatever it is that you're getting at." She spoke firmly, avoiding his eyes so that he wouldn't see the tears that were edging to escape.

"Fine…here it goes. Gabbi…Remember I said that I was involved? I'm more than involved with Pamela…she's my wife. I'm married." Troy slowly stammered out and looked at her to see just how mad she would be. Gabriella turned around and gave him her back as she held herself. She didn't speak a word for what seemed like hours when in reality it was just a few minutes, worrying Troy to the maximum. "Gabriella? Please say something…"

Gabriella spun around and faced him, burning him with the furry that lasered out of her eyes. "What the fuck am I supposed to say? Huh? You tell me how the hell I'm supposed to feel about this! Jesus Christ, Troy! I feel like such an idiot!"

"Gabriella I never meant to hurt you, please know that. I'm truly sor-"

"Don't even say you're sorry! You are nowhere near being sorry yet! I can't believe you, Troy! Why didn't you just tell me this from the get go?" She marched over to him and pushed him hard against the wall. She wasn't one for violence but to her it seemed necessary at the moment since there wasn't a punch bag to take it out on around.

"I don't know…I wasn't thinking. Seeing you again just changed things for me and I didn't want to say anything that could mess up anything that could've happened between us…" Troy spoke softly, hoping to calm her down from her rage.

"Mess up anything that could've happened between us? What the hell do you think happened just now? This is the last time I allow you to hurt me…the fucking last time. You hurt me when you left me, you hurt me when you left Albuquerque, and you hurt me now! Three's a fucking charm, isn't it?" She said bitterly. Tears streamed down her face as she was frustrated and hurt and confused from everything happening at once. It was too much to handle. "That was low. That was extremely low of you to even lie to me and to cheat on your fucking wife, Troy. Gosh, you make me so sick right now!"

"I know…I'm a complete asshole for that but I mean it when I say that I'm sorry. I know that's not what you want to hear but I'll be damned if you don't understand just how sorry I am."

"I feel mind-fucked from all of this…Kelsi knew about this didn't she?!"

"It's not even like that Gab-"

"So what the hell was it like then, Troy? Could you freaking explain all this to me? Could you seriously just tell me what the fuck is with this situation?" Gabriella's hands were waving frantically as everything was building up inside.

"I'd be lying again if I said she didn't. But don't even bring her into this because she has nothing to do with what's going on between us right now…she didn't have any role in this at all." Troy defended.

"Well you know what? In my book she's just as bad as you right now because she knew! I feel so disgusted!" Gabriella felt so bitter but who could blame her?

"Gabriella, just please calm down. I know you're upset and you have every right to be-" Troy was cut off by her anger.

"Upset? You think I'm _upset?_ It's more like pissed!" She yelled back.

"It's not like I meant to hurt you! It wasn't on purpose!"

"Whether you meant to or not, just so you know, you still did! You know what hurts the most? I didn't come all the way over here for a vacation or for the fun…I came here to find you! I came all the way across the country just to find you because I am so pathetic to not be over you and believed that there could've still been a chance at something! Do you have any idea how _I_ feel? Do you know how _this_ feels?" She held her hand over her heart when she said the last part.

"I could only imagine how hurt you feel…although I feel like shit I'm sure its nothing compared to how you feel. Hear me out, please…" Troy begged. When she stood silent, he took that as his cue to continue. "Pamela means a lot to me and when I married her I was sure that she could keep me happy for the rest of my life BUT it wasn't like I knew she was the one because I didn't think she was…I just thought she was good enough at being close to being the one for me. That spot was always reserved for you. I wasn't sure though if you'd even want to be with me because I figured you moved on after I left so I tried to move on too. Now I see it was a mistake and I'm truly sorry for that, I really am. When you came back into my life at the show, you proved me right about Pam being the second runner up to you. I never doubted my marriage for one second but this whole weekend, that's all I've been doing. You showed me how much of a complete idiot I was and how much of an asshole I am right now. You didn't deserve any of the pain I caused you then nor the pain you feel right now. I hate that all of it is my fault but I couldn't just let you leave without being honest with you. I still care about you, Gabriella…so much. I always have. You have no idea what you still mean to me. What just happened with us just now…I don't regret any of it…none. I do regret though how this turned out and I'm the one to blame for this confusion. Just please forgive me." Troy wasn't much of a begger unless it was necessary. Right now, it was way more than necessary.

"I don't know if I can Troy…listen, I just need some space right now…could you please just leave?" At least she wasn't yelling at him anymore. She looked so vulnerable as she stood about five feet away from him, tears cascading down her face as she shivered. Troy just wanted to hold her but he knew that was impossible at the time.

"Gabriella, plea-" Troy took a stepper closer to her.

"Troy just go, I can't do this right now…" Gabriella held her hand out in front of her to stop him from taking another step.

"Please don't be like this…I don't want – ", Troy tried to reason with her.

"Troy would you just stop! Don't make this any harder than it already is…just get the fuck out and leave me alone, will you?!" So much for not screaming anymore. She looked at him with a pleading yet angry look. Not wanting to anger her anymore, Troy slowly walked towards the door and looked back at her one last time.

"I really am sorry, Brie. Please don't hate me." He was gone. Gone for possibly forever but at the moment she didn't mind. Once that door closed, she fully let out her sobs that were begging to be released from her system. Her body shook uncontrollably as she flopped down onto the bed and buried her face into the pillow.

'How did this happen? How did I manage to get sucked into this situation and be left out alone all over again? You should've listened to yourself when you first decided to back off 'cause of his involvement, but no! You just had to flirt with him anyway! You're such a stupid girl! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I just want to go home…its all I want and need right now…besides a punching bag. Mental Note: Purchase one.'

Ten minutes later, Gabriella stood up from her spot on the bed and decided to quit feeling sorry for herself. She needed the comfort that her home could provide and decided that that was where she wanted to be. Quickly grabbing her things and stuffing them inside her suitcase and duffel bag, she rummaged through the drawer of the night table and found a pencil and a post-it pad. She scribbled a quick note down for Chad and Taylor to see.

_Hey guys, I'm sorry to just leave on such short notice but I cant stay here a minute longer. I'll explain everything to you guys soon…I hope you understand. I grabbed the first flight back to New Mexico from JFK so don't worry about me…I'll be fine. Tay, I'm going to get my car back from your garage and drive back up to Cali. I'll call you once my plane lands. Love you both! Thanks for the road trip! _

_Love Always,_

_Gabriella_

_P.S. Just because I'm not there doesn't mean you guys could finally get down and dirty! Jk…I left my half of the money besides the room key on the night table for the way back._

Gabriella stuck the post-it against the bathroom door since she figured that that was the first place Chad would go and find it there. She left her room key on the night table. She switched on the light of the bathroom and stared at her reflection. Her hair was now a mess and how makeup was all over the place. She couldn't leave to the airport looking like that. She cleaned off her face and put her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a sweater. This was it…she was leaving.

Gabriella walked out of the hotel and out to the sidewalk, hauling a cab to take her to her destination. Once she did, she went straight to the airport and purchased the first one-way ticket back to her home.

* * *

"Finally…I thought I'd never make it…" Gabriella muttered to herself while walking off the plane. It was 8:30 AM and she didn't sleep the entire plane ride since there was too much to think about. She didn't even want to think about it yet the problem that happened hours ago in New York keep replaying in her mind like a horror movie that you didn't want to watch, but you just couldn't take your eyes off it.

Now she was standing by the baggage claim, waiting for her bags so she could hurry up and leave. She looked like hell. Her eyes were still puffy and red from crying and lack of sleep, her hair was a mess, and she was still in last night's dress. The dress she's dying to take off for it reminded her of the dreadful event…even if she would remember the event either way.

Gabriella was slowly becoming a wreck…with a massive headache.

'I went all the way across the country only to have my heartbroken – again…by the same guy. That's pretty sad. It's like they say: Shame on you if you fool me once, shame on me if you fool me twice. Never realized how true that was until now. Well at least in my case, it was more than twice so I guess that just makes me a bigger fool. I should have saw this coming…I should've known that something else was there if he never even kept in contact with anyone. But was it really 'cause of his marriage? Who knows if there's more to it. Just strike me with lightning and kill me now, plea-' Gabriella's bags were arriving towards her on the machine, knocking her out of her rambling thoughts.

Pulling her baggage behind her, she stepped out of the airport and into the heat from the sunny morning in New Mexico. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the all too familiar number, smiling to herself when the beautiful dark comforting face that possessed her best friend appeared on the screen.

_"Hello? Gab's? Are you alright?"_

"Hey Tay…yeah, I'm fine. I just arrived here at the airport in New Mexico."

_"Good. I'm glad you're safe. How was the flight?"_

"It was okay…I barely got any sleep in so I'm just exhausted. How was the rest of your night?"

_"Pretty good actually. Chad and I had a blast! I got pictures of it and everything…you have to see them since Chad was basically drunk after you guys left. He was worse than a sailor or an Irish man at a pub. It's hilarious."_

Gabriella laughed at the thought of how drunk Chad must've been. It was her first genuine smile after the incident. "Sorry that I left the club on such short notice, by the way."

_"It's fine, really. Don't worry about. Does it have anything to do with the text Troy had sent us? He said that you weren't feeling well…"_

How was she supposed to answer that? How was she even going to try working her way around the question? It was a lie and an excuse for them to leave to be alone. She knew that she was eventually going to talk about it and tell Taylor, but was right now the best time?

_"Gabriella? You still there?"_

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry. I zoned out for a sec…what was your question?"

_"That you leaving, did it have anything to do with you not feeling well?"_

'I guess she would have to find sometime to fill her in, so why not now?' Besides, it would be about another week or so until we finally see each other again so I might as well tell her now.' she thought. "Taylor…I'm going to be completely honest and upfront with you. I wasn't sick at all."

_"Okay then…so would you like to tell me what was going on then?"_

"Uh…well…Troy and I left back to the hotel, not because I was sick, but because we just wanted to be alone. Things back at the club got hot and heavy for a bit and we just needed to get out of there before anything too exclusive happened." She bit her lip waiting for her friend's reaction.

_"Figures. I think the whole world already knew that thought. Truth be told, Chad and I saw the whole thing between you guys on that dance floor and I do admit, it was pretty hot. I actually envy you for having such a steamy moment."_

"You won't be envying me once I tell you the rest of the story…" Gabriella muttered.

_"The rest? What happened?"_

"How do I even begin to explain?"

_"The best way that you can."_

Gabriella contemplated over the confidential information and how to go about it. She stood silent thinking about what exactly she would say. Finally deciding that it was now or never, she took a deep breath and began.

"Pay attention because I'm only going to say this _once_ and one time only. Got it? Good. Here goes nothing. Troy and I went back to the hotel room and things got even steamier when he kissed me and we made out and things were getting hotter when the tension got more erotic and he was all over me and I was all over him and it felt so good and right but things get messed up before either one of us could start removing clothes off the others body. I looked up at him confused because he was on top of me looking at me with such a lost expression and then he got off and then everything got all serious. Out of nowhere, Troy decided that the moment seemed like the best to finally drop a bomb on me of information that I didn't expect at all, which is that he's married. He's really married with a wedding ring and everything, Tay. To whom, you're wondering right? To the girl he was just 'involved' with, Pamela. That skank! Wait…I take that back because I don't even know her but I just hate her anyway. Anyway, I got pissed and we argued a lot and I'm hurt and upset and exhausted and I just need a freaking hug right now. So I kicked him out of the hotel room after everything and he tried apologizing so many times but I'm just not into hearing that bullshit right now. So here I am now, back in New Mexico because I didn't think I could handle another night in New York or a road trip back over here." Gabriella finally finished her rambling about the events of the night before. She felt so out of breath as her eyes began to water from mentally reliving the moment.

Taylor was at a loss for words, processing all of the data that went flying into her ears at 100 mph.

"I hope I didn't throw to much information at you at once."

_"No, no…you didn't. I'm just in shock about all of it. I can't believe he's married and decided that he would tell you at that exact moment. The nerve of that guy."_

"I know…I mean, I do appreciate that he did tell me but it still hurts. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself anymore. I've practically been saving my love life for the day we could reunite but it's all screwed up because of that one detail. You know what that means? I've been pining over someone all these years for nothing! I could've been happily in love with someone else right now but I'm not. I'm a lonely wreck…"

_"Hold you horses. Troy did the wrong thing and as much as I would like to think of him as a complete bastard right now, I can't help but to think that he did it with the best intentions. I know it's hard right now because it really is, but Troy wouldn't have done anything to hurt you, you know that. He fucked up big time but I'm sure it's eating his brain right now and that he's regretting the whole thing, which he should…serves him right. I watched you too this whole weekend so closely but I'm sure neither of you noticed since you guys were all 'goo-goo-gah-gah'. Anyway, that boy is still so utterly head over heels for you. Just don't walk away if he tries to redeem himself of the damage he's caused…neither of you would be happy if you really didn't."_

"Tay…I don't know. Whose side are you on anyway?" she snapped.

_"Neither. I just want you both to be happy…especially you. Troy's could drop dead at the moment."_

"That's more like it!" Gabriella giggled. "Thanks for listening."

_"Well, duh! How could I not listen when that's all you need the most right now? Anyway, I got to finish packing to start heading out with Danforth. My garage isn't locked so you could easily take your car." Taylor paused for a brief moment. "Listen sweetheart, things are rough right now but you're going to be fine. Don't think much about it and don't let it get to you. You're a lot stronger than you think."_

"Thanks, Tay. I needed that. I'll let you go though. Besides, I got to catch a cab to your house. Call me later?"

_"Of course. Talk to you then. Bye."_

"Bye."

Gabriella stood along the curb at the passenger pickup area, spotting a taxi and walked over to it. Giving the cab driver the address to Taylor's house, she pulled out her cell phone once again and dialed a number.

The person on the other line picked up and Gabriella smiled to herself as she sat inside the now moving vehicle.

"Hey, mom. I was wondering if I could actually spend the night with you…"

* * *

Troy laid on his bed, feeling more miserable than ever.

He barely ate, barely slept, nor did he shower. After leaving the hotel, he went back to his lonesome apartment only to find Mugsy. He hasn't moved from his spot on his bed since he had got home and it was already the afternoon. He was still tense from the argument he had with Gabriella but there was nothing he could do now. It was all his fault that any of this even happened.

That was how he spent his entire morning – beating himself up. Troy felt as though he deserve every bad feeling that he felt…it was only right for him to be punished that way and even then he thought it wasn't enough.

His mind kept replaying everything over and over and over again, possibly making him go insane. He thought back to sexuality at the club all the way to the sparks and adrenaline from making out in her room. But that always led to the heartbreaking moment that he told her his secret. The vision of Gabriella crying and being upset was etched into his mind by a tiny laser controlled by the goblins in the dark. Nothing mattered anymore to him at that moment except for the pain he had caused one of the most important people of his life. Her words kept replaying in his mind and there was no pause or stop button.

_"That was low. That was extremely low of you to even lie to me and to cheat on your fucking wife, Troy. Gosh, you make me so sick right now!" _Bullet to the heart number one._  
_

_"Whether you meant to or not, just so you know, you still did! You know what hurts the most? I didn't come all the way over here for a vacation or for the fun…I came here to find you!" _Bullet number two._  
_

_"Just get the fuck out and leave me alone, will you?!"_ Bullet number three and she hit it right on the target. No one else's fault but his own._  
_

Now that he thought about it, things would have probably been better if he would've just admitted his marriage to Pam from the start. Sure, they wouldn't have had all the tiny special moments but at least she wouldn't have been pissed at him about anything. Who knew if Gabriella was even a part of his life anymore.

Troy stood up from his bed realizing that he had to do something about this. He wouldn't let her get away this time. He had left her too many times and lived without her all these years because of his stupidity that he just couldn't allow it to happen again. Troy knew he had to make his move in order for her to stay in his life, whether if it was as a friend or something romantic.

He needed Gabriella more than he ever thought.

He went to the bathroom and showered off all the stress that lingered onto his body, refreshing himself of the guilt that was stuck to him like permanent glue. He got out and dressed himself in basketball shorts and t-shirt. Rummaging through the cabinets of the kitchen, he pulled out Mugy's food and fed it to him in his bowl that was placed on the floor.

"Sorry if I've been neglecting you, Mugs. I've just been so bothered by my stupid mistakes lately that I haven't been paying mind to anything else. I'm a complete asshole, aren't I? I fuck things up with Gabbi, I question my marriage, and I neglect you. What's next? I lose my job? I hope not. Why did I let things get this way? Seriously. And why the heck am I talking to a dog…I swear I'm losing it." He shook his head and decided to go out for jog to clear his head.

Maybe even try to figure out how to fix things while he was at it.

* * *

I had tons of fun writing this chapter which is why it was posted so quickly since I knew what I wanted to do with it. I hope it lived up to the expectations of my readers and that you guys enjoyed it. I'm going to try to have my next chapter posted just as quick as this one was. I just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone that has read my story so far. Thanks for sticking by it and reviewing and put it under your story alerts or favoriting it. It makes me feel good to know that people are liking what I write. So yeah, thanks!

If I had any typos in this chapter then please excuse them.

Review it!


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I don't own anything from the HSM franchise nor the music that I have used in this story...just had to run that by everyone. By the way, thanks for all of the positively awesome reviews for the last chapter! It made my day for sure! **

**On with the story...**

* * *

It had been exactly one week since the incident between Troy and Gabriella occurred. For obvious reasons, neither has spoken to each other nor did Gabriella want to. For her, Troy messed up big time and she wasn't going to forgive him easily nor was she sure if she would. He betrayed her trust and managed to embarrass her on their actions – but mostly of her own. She felt ashamed to be outsmarted by her brain from following her heart.

And it all happened because of a guy…

Or…

She could always blame it on Chad and Taylor for convincing her to go in the first place.

"Alright, I want to thank you all for working so hard and doing your absolute best for changing this month's theme for our issue so quickly. I hope you guys didn't mind that I really wanted it to be 'Chasing After Your Dreams'…I was inspired by a certain event for this one. As for the stuff that we were supposed to use for our now replaced issue, it's not going to go to waste; I've decided that we're going to use that for next month's issue so that means you all get to relax on doing your research and what not for the next one. But it doesn't mean full and complete relaxation…it means that we get to have a little more focus on planning the big upcoming event that we're throwing for the huge success of the magazine, thanks to all of you. I still haven't picked a date but I would like for it to be within the next two months or so." Gabriella was sitting at the end of the long table of the conference room, her employers sitting on both sides. Each one listened intently as their boss discussed the important topics. Ever since returning to her job, Gabriella had been burying herself with work. She kept herself extra busy as an attempt to forget about what happened but it would always come creeping up into her conscience once she reached her house.

"Um…as for job assignments for planning this, I already decided who would be doing what. Cassidy and Rachel, I want you both to be in charge of the decorations and what the place should look like inside and out. I trust you both with styling models so I'm assuming you guys could get it done since its sort of similar. Heather, you are to find the location for the event…it needs to be spacious and I would preferably like the place to have high ceilings if you find an indoor place; outdoor is also fine. Once you find the perfect place, inform me, Cassidy and Rachel since they have to see it to get their visual of how it's going to look. Melinda, I would like for you to be in charge of catering; appetizers and a three-course meal. Diana and Mallory, you guys have entertainment meaning music; try to see if you can get some of the big modern performers and DJ's of right now. Lastly, I want Kenneth, Tracey, and Iris to take charge of getting the security team, publicists, photographers _not_ paparazzi, and…that's it for now.' Gabriella said as she looked up from her notepad after reading their assigned duties. She turned to her assistant that sat beside her, "Valerie, come by my office to discuss the guest list. Conference is over everyone. Thanks for all the hard work you guys did…you didn't let me down at all. You are all dismissed."

Everyone got up to continue what he or she was to work on or to get a head start on their planning. Gabriella stood seated in her seat and covered her face with her hands, letting the stress boil underneath her skin. It was a tough job that could fun yet a handful…somebody had to do it. She uncovered her face to see that Valerie was still sitting beside her. "Are we missing anything for this month's issue, Val?"

Valerie looked through her notes and nodded her head after a minute or so, "All we're missing is you editor in chief letter. Everything else is already covered."

"How could I forget that? My goodness! I swear I'm a mess…" Gabriella threw her head back and rested it against the top of the chair, closing her eyes momentarily.

"Don't be so hard on yourself boss. Whatever's stressing you out will blow over in time. Just have faith." Valerie rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Easy for you to say. A lot has happened since I left for my vacation, Val. I need a coffee…"

"Right on it, Gabriella. I'll be right back." She rustled all of her paperwork into her bag.

"Thanks."

Both ladies stood up and headed off into different directions. Gabriella went straight to her office to begin writing her letter. She sat at her desk and began thinking about what exactly she would say. That month's issue was changed to being about chasing after your dreams, what you really wanted. She had did just that but it wasn't how she expected it to be. She was so deep in thought for such a long while that she became startled when Valerie stepped into her office.

"Here's your coffee, Gabriella." Valerie handed her the container of Starbucks that she gladly accepted. "Anything else I could do for you?"

"Nope…that will be all for now. Thanks. You're the best!" Gabriella smiled with appreciation at her assistant, watching as her retreating back leave her office.

Taking a sip of her personal energy provider, she began to think aloud. "What the heck am I going to write for this month? I know what I want to write but I can't just put it all out there. Or should I?", she paused for a brief moment, considering her thought but then thought otherwise, "Don't be foolish, Gabriella…you can't just let the whole world know your personal issues...yet they should know the reason and inspiration behind this month's theme like they do for every other theme. I'm so confused! Am I seriously talking to myself...again? I need a new hobby..."

She smacked an aggravated hand to her forehead as she spun around in her seat, facing the large windows behind her. She peered out at the world below, ten stories high. Gabriella wandered just how many people had ever been let down; about how many people ended up being disappointed after they chased what they wanted most. About how many people really gave up from being upset. Is it really worth chasing a dream at all?

Then it hit her.

She knew what she would write.

* * *

"Kelsi, I don't have any idea what I'm going to do…" Troy paced around the backstage of the theater during the intermission.

"Troy, just calm down-" Kelsi tried to reason but failed completely.

"I can't! I can't sleep…I can't eat…I can barely look at my own reflection without hating who I see staring back at me. I'm such a screw up." He retorted. Troy was frustrated beyond his limit and he had no one to blame but himself.

"You're not a screw up…you're human. We all make mistakes; some mistakes worse than others but nonetheless, it was an accident. You're not a bad person for what happened. So you messed up, who hasn't? I mean, what you did wasn't smart but at least you did the right thing by telling her." She was one of those people who knew just what to say to chill him out and make him feel better.

"I guess but what am I supposed to do now? How do I fix things?" he gently asked. His usually bright eyes appeared dull and lost. He didn't know what to do with himself anymore and all that was obvious by the look in his eyes.

"By giving Gabriella some time."

"What if she never forgives me after I give her space?" He didn't what to do with himself when that thought flashed through his mind.

"Then it wasn't meant to be."

Troy contemplated those last words spoken from Kelsi's mouth. It kind of hurt him at the thought of fate possibly working against them. Could fate be that cruel to fool him into believing that they weren't meant for each other after all they've been through?

"I don't know what I'm going to do about Pam though."

"Honestly, how much do you really love her? Do you still love her at all?" Kelsi quirked a brow at him.

Troy was lost when she asked him that question. He didn't even quite understand just how he felt anymore. He was down a path and finally reached the crossroads between his first true love and the current woman that wore a ring.

"I-I don't even know anymore. Like I love her, very much…but I'm not sure if I'm _in_ love with her…or at least not like before. It's not the same anymore. Things are changing between us and I'm scared. I'm scared to lose my marriage and end up alone without anyone wanting me back. What if I leave Pam and try to go after Gabriella and she doesn't want me? That thought scares the shit out of me and I don't want to think back on what I threw away with Pam and regret it, you know? But then if I stay with Pam, I'm going to be left thinking 'what if?' Either way it seems like I'm going to regret something." Troy poured his heart out to his friend. His fear of being lonely was something that affected him greatly and Kelsi noticed this.

"You wont regret it if you're wrong about Gabriella. She cares about you, Troy. She cares a lot…more than you think. She left here pissed off with you but that doesn't mean that she hates you. Gabriella is a smart woman and very understanding too…you should know that better than anyone else. Just give her some time before you decide on what you really want in life, okay?" Kelsi asked, looking into his eyes for a confirmation.

"Alright…thanks. I needed that." Troy pulled her into an embrace and let her go when the stagehand appeared and told them that they would be back on in five.

"You're welcome. Now go perform your heart out because your sucky mood is killing the show!"

* * *

**This is the shortest chapter that I've written and I'm not satisfied with the length at all but I needed it to be just a filler to prepare my future chapters. This weekend I will be attending The Jonas Brothers concert here in Puerto Rico (so excited!) so I'm basically going to spend my entire weekend in San Juan until Monday so I might be awhile when it comes to updating the next chapter BUT I can assure you that it will be up ASAP. **

**Hope you guys enjoyed this short one...review por favor aka plea**se!


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry! It took longer than I had expected to update this next chapter. Prepare for more drama to occur! Hope you guys enjoy it!**

* * *

A month had finally passed since Troy had last seen Gabriella. His performances haven't been as amazing as they once were; in fact, he was lacking that specific spark that he was always capable of lighting. He was still on top of his game but the praises just weren't there that often anymore. He knew what it was that was causing this.

Troy was depressed. He hid it very well to the public eye though. Besides, he was an actor.

It was a Saturday afternoon and he was sprawled on his back against the sofa with his wife lying on top of him, watching a movie. Their relationship was still going strong but even Troy noticed a change in his wife…or was it just him that was changing. No, it couldn't have been him for she wasn't there for him that often like before.

He stared down at her as she watched the television silently. His mind was reeling a movie of its own.

_It was a warm summers day during the month of June. Everything was set up and decorated beautifully along the pier. Underneath the enormous white canopy were twenty tables with blue centerpieces and a turquoise carpet that intersected the middle of the floor; the aisle for the bride. The canopy smelled of vanilla and featured natural lighting from the skylights at the top of it. Friends and family of the soon to be newlyweds sat amongst those tables, chatting to one another until it was time. _

_Troy made his way down the aisle with a small smile to cover up how nervous he was becoming from all eyes being on him. He looked straight ahead at his 'best girl', Kelsi, since he didn't have many male friends. Even if he did, none of them knew him any better than she did which was why he honored her with the duty of taking the place of the best man. _

_He stood next to her as she gave his arm a squeeze for reassurance. His eyes scanned the crowd and he began to think about how much it would've meant to him to have his parents there or to have Chad be the best man. He wanted their presences but he just couldn't face having to call them after he abandoned everyone. He was ashamed to tell them he would be getting married since no one even knew what was becoming of his life since he shut everyone out. They surely wouldn't have open arms to the idea or would they? They never even met Pamela before so they wouldn't be happy to know if he was getting married to a girl that they might or might not like. _

_Just the thought of his parents liking his bride brought his attention over to a girl that they would've liked, Gabriella. He imagined what she would look like wearing a long white gown that contrasted beautifully amongst her olive skin tone. Her long curly hair pinned up or cascading down her back as she would walk slowly towards him down the aisle with her perfect smile gracing her lovely features. She would've looked more like an angel than she already did. More like a princess from a fairytale with the perfect happy ending. _

_He mentally shook his head at the thought. Troy couldn't and wouldn't allow himself to think that. It was like cheating mentally._

_Suddenly the wedding march began to play and Troy shot his eyes towards the front of the canopy where the opening was. The bridesmaids started coming in one by one and the groom started to feel anxious. His palms began to sweat and he was taken over by the invisible vacuum in the room for it was becoming hard to breathe. _

_Next thing Troy knew, the bride was standing at the end of the aisle, smiling at him as though he was the only person that existed. He felt a wave of relief when he looked into her eyes and saw that she was just as happy as he was. Nothing could ruin that moment. She walked with her father all the way to Troy and felt tears prickle her eyes at the spirituality of the moment._

_Troy took in her appearance. She was wearing a beige strapless dress that puffed out at the hips. It was covered in sequins and beading on the bodice and on the bottom. Her hair was down in waves with white roses behind her ear. She was a vision of beauty in his eyes._

Pam began to stir in Troy's arms, knocking him out of the past. She was asleep with such an angelic and calm look on her face that Troy didn't have the heart to wake her up. He admired her features and thought about how unfair it was for her to not know that her husband was having thoughts about another woman; that her husband was depressed about a former flame and that he cheated on her with Gabriella. He frowned at how selfish he was being to her. Troy knew he wanted to do something but he wasn't sure how or when. How could he break her heart after promising her forever? He knew breaking promises came with consequences and he was still suffering from the ones he broke to Gabriella.

Troy's ears perked up at the sound of a name escaping his wife's mouth in her sleep. He started to listen closely because it came out in mumbles. His eyes watched her as she smiled in her sleep.

"Lance…" she said the name again causing him to furrow his brows in confusion.

Who's Lance?

* * *

"Thanks for coming again, Taylor. I needed a day to just relax and have some time to break free of my stress." Gabriella said to her friend as she held the door open to enter the spa.

"Its ok, really. I figured that since I haven't seen you since New York plus we needed some girl bonding time anyway. Besides, I know you've been hiding yourself with work so you need to just chillax for a bit." Taylor replied.

"I suppose you're right. Can't wait for that massage and pedicure…I'm in desperate need of it since the party is only a week away." Gabriella let out a deep sigh as they walked up to the counter and let the receptionist know that they were there for their 11 o'clock appointment. They were led to the back room where they could change into white fluffy robes.

"Speaking of the party, how did the planning go?" asked Taylor.

"Pretty stressful but it went well. I guess I should thank my awesome workers for that one…it was basically all them. By the way, you and Chad are allowed to bring one guest each with you to the event. VIP area with the celebrities and all the glitz and glam." She grinned at the excited expression that dawned the face of her best friend.

"Seriously? Girl, you shouldn't have! I would have been just fine without the VIP but if you insist…" Taylor chuckled along with Gabriella. "I have no clue who I should bring though."

"What about your sister? I think she'd love to go with you."

"Nah, she's married with kids and plus she doesn't travel anywhere without her husband and the babies. It's like her number one family rule."

"Well then how about your boss? You could earn brownie points around the workplace…"

"And be stuck having boring conversations the whole night? I think not. Negative."

"I don't know then, McKessie."

The girls finished changing into their respective robes and walked to the room where the massages were to be done. They laid flat on their tummies and opened the robes slightly and lowered them down their backs enough to cover their cheeks. The room was filled with a comfortable silence that overcame them with the soft music that played. The girls sunk into their own thoughts as the massages only got better, releasing and kneading their stress out.

The silence was broken once Taylor spoke. "So who's performing anyway?"

"We got Lady GaGa, The Pussycat Dolls, DJ AM, Metro Station, Katy Perry, and Flo Rida…basically the artists that people can listen and dance to. Amongst them will be other huge celebrities. I'm still in shock on how it was able to get done in a short amount of time and the fact that all these famous people are coming at all. I wasn't expecting such a huge response." Gabriella made a face to show her surprise at the situation even though Taylor couldn't see since they were both faced down.

"I'm so proud of you, Gabs. I really am. You deserve every bit of success that's being thrown your way. I just hope all goes well for you then."

"So do I. I hope I find time to spend with you guys too because I'm sure its going to be more than hectic that night."

"I'm sure of it but even if you don't, it'll be okay. I'll have Chad to hang with the whole night…what joy." Taylor said sarcastically. Gabriella giggled at it even though she knew that Taylor might secretly be happy about that.

"You know you'll enjoy every minute of it!" she teased on.

"Maybe…I might…" they laughed and it slowly fell into a complete silence again as their massage continued.

* * *

It's been hours since Pamela woke up and left to go shopping, leaving Troy alone in the apartment with Mugsy. He was playing a game of fetch with the dog and had to battle the toy back out of its mouth. He couldn't resist the chuckle that slipped from how adorable the growing dog looked trying not to let go of the toy. His eyes glittered with excitement when he got it back and threw it across the room again, watching as Mugsy ran after it.

The excitement was suddenly replaced with confusion.

Who was this Lance guy his wife mentioned?

Why was Pam saying his name?

Troy wanted an answer but wasn't sure how to go about it. Should he just come right out and ask? Should he wait to see if she said it again? Should he wait to see if she talks about him while being awake?

Why was she even dreaming about a guy named Lance?

Why did she have a smile when she said it?

'Maybe he's a new friend. Maybe he's new coworker. Maybe it was just someone that she dreamt of out of the blue…like a made up person. Hell, maybe he was the bum on the corner…Pam seems friendly enough to have fed him and probably started a conversation.' Troy dismissed the thought of the last one considering that Pamela would've mentioned her good deed if she would've done it.

Who is Lance?

Why has he never heard of him before?

Troy crashed back down into the real world as Mugsy dropped the toy and barked at his owner. He wanted to continue playing but Troy was way too focused on the situation at hand. He got up from his spot on the sofa and walked towards his bedroom.

Troy wanted to investigate.

He trusted his wife, didn't he? Why would he suddenly feel that he needed to search through her things? That was unlikely of Troy. He knew he shouldn't even think about doing such a thing since he was the one who had been unfaithful. Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he walked to the night table that was on Pamela's side of the bed.

He opened its cabinet and pulled out its content hoping to find at least a picture or a letter from another man. No…Pam couldn't have been cheating. It wasn't in her nature to do such a thing. Was he overreacting about something so small? Troy wanted to find out.

He sat on the floor and began to look through the papers and magazines. He found old bills, old birthday cards, work papers, and dozens of magazines. A specific magazine caught his eye as soon as he read the name on the cover.

_Clique._

It was Gabriella's magazine. Pam was a fan of it. He remembered that he mentioned that to Gabriella when he first spoke of Pam to his former flame. Back when he was just 'involved'.

His breath hitched high within his throat as he traced the cover of the magazine. He never actually read any of their issues but suddenly he wanted to. He looked at its date and saw that it was last month's issue; the month that Gabriella was in New York. His heart started to race and palms began to sweat. He read the headline on the cover for that month's magazine: _Chasing After Your Dreams_.

Curious as to what was inside, he lifted himself off the ground and walked to the kitchen counter. He left the magazine on top and wandered over to the wine cabinet.

He needed a drink…badly.

Troy opened the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Vodka and poured some into a glass. Then he went to the refrigerator and mixed it with orange and cranberry juice. He needed to just relax and free himself of the shame and guilt that he's been carrying for quite sometime. Troy needed to be carefree.

Opening the magazine, he slowly turned the pages and skimmed what each one had. He didn't get too far before he stumbled upon a picture of Gabriella.

Troy froze. His heart picked up its pace again and his hands shook. There she was…in front of his eyes. It was just a picture but she was still there. She was smiling a big warm inviting smile and her eyes were twinkling. Troy couldn't help the silly smile that grew on his face just from looking at the small picture. The page had a lot of writing on it. He assumed it was a piece about her but soon realized it was the editor's note.

His eyes widened when it hit him that this was something that she had written. He sipped on his drink and began to read.

_Hello again fellow readers! _

_Gabriella here to deliver another great issue thanks to all the support we've gotten. I'm excited that we've become such a success over the past few months and it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the dedicated fans of the magazine-that-could. Enough of my rambling and appreciation (although its more than necessary), I want to tell you all about the inspiration behind this month's issue: Chasing After Your Dreams._

_I'm sure we've all had a dream that we wanted to go after. Whether its love, a desire, a passion, a future, or a simple dress; we all have something that we really want and should go after. Some of us have and have been successful in it and others have probably been too scared to even bother. A few weeks ago, I was one of those people that were too scared to chase after what I wanted most. I wasn't always the confident kind of person but that all changed for me during my teen years and had made its way with me into adulthood although it did slip for sometime. My best friend back from high school convinced me to chase after what I wanted most…what I felt that I couldn't live or love without and after sometime, I agreed. It was fun because we set out on a road trip across the country with another friend of ours and ended up in New York, the place where my dream was. I found it and I must admit, I was so ecstatic…not even, ecstatic doesn't even begin to describe how I felt. I was beyond that. Although I did find my dream unfortunately it was unattainable. I came back to California with a whole lot of nothing. It was upsetting that I didn't get what I wanted and I basically traveled for nothing but it was a lesson worth learning. You cant always be scared to go after what you want most…sometimes you got to take that leap and risk it, hoping for the best the entire time. It's thrilling and amazing if you catch your dream but can also be quite heart wrenching if you don't. Either way, it's an experience that should always be treasured no matter what the outcome is. So I encourage you all to after whatever it is that you want. You never know how things will turn out if you don't try. Hope you all have better luck than I did!_

_Until next time,_

_Gabriella 3_

Troy sipped his drink and stared down at the page that he just read. He knew that she was talking about him. He was the dream. He was the one that she couldn't obtain. He was the one her let her down…again.

Although only a selective few knew about what happened, deep down Troy would always be the dream from the editor's note. That's one way of knowing who he was. His identity was kept private which he appreciated because if not then many random people would hate him. Troy knew he hurt her but he didn't think it was enough to influence a magazine. Had he really done that much damage? Now he felt worse.

He had to make things right again once and for all. He had to get to the bottom of ever question and situation going on in his life.

Moments later, the front door opened and Pam came strolling in holding onto several bags. She sat them on the couch of the living room and walked into the kitchen to greet Troy.

"Hey babe! I'm home." She said and kissed his cheek.

"Yes, you are. How was the shopping?"

"Pretty good…I got some good stuff from Bloomingdale's and I hit a sale in Macys. Got tons of awesome stuff in there."

"As long as you didn't max out your credit card…"

"Nope! Surely enough I didn't. I might be a lover of shopping but I'm a controlled one. Give me some credit, Troy."

"I'm just messin', babe." Troy stood silent after that as he watched his wife practically dig a whole in the refrigerator looking for something to eat. He needed to make a move and fast. The sooner he got answers, the sooner he could decide what to do. Should he just go for it?

Not wanting to waste anymore time and because he was anxious, Troy decided to touch what he assumed would be a rocky subject. "Baby…could I ask you something?"

She still had her back to him with her face in the fridge. "Sure…what's up? What's on you mind?"

He rubbed his hands together nervously and bit his lip. 'Am I doing to right thing?…Of course I am! I have a right to know if it's a big deal or not. Better to get it over with while the confidence is still there.'

"Who's Lance?"

* * *

**Cliffhanger! Sorry but you'll have to wait for the next update to see what happens. So this chapter shows that Troy had always sort of second guessed his marriage ever since his own wedding day. He never quite let Ms. Montez go, but would he now? You'll have to wait to find out!**

**For those who are wondering, The Jonas Brothers Concert I went to on Sunday was AWESOME! They're such incredible performers and so entertaining! There wasn't one moment where I felt bored. I recommend going to one of their concerts if they're ever in your town!  
**

**If I have any typing errors, please excuse them because I felt too lazy to bother reading it over to check if there were any at all. Please Review!**


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: I don't own HSM. Bummer, I know.**_

* * *

"Who's Lance?"

Troy noticed the way his wife's body seemed to become stiff from mentioning the name. She looked tense but suddenly calm as she came out from the refrigerator holding a pot with leftovers.

"Lance? I don't think I've heard of any Lance's or know any…" Pam replied while avoiding his gaze. She once again turned her back to him as she strolled over to the oven. Was she telling him the truth? Troy didn't know for sure so he pressed harder onto the topic.

"That's funny because earlier while you were asleep, you kept repeating that name." His heart thudded deeply in his chest that it almost felt painful. His face was serious with his jaw clenched tightly together.

"I did? Hmm, I don't recall knowing anyone named Lance though. I don't even remember what I was dreaming so I could assure you that whatever it is was no big deal, babe." Pam turned around and looked him in the eyes after she stated her part. She shielded them with honesty, hoping that Troy wouldn't catch on.

Troy stared back at her, unsure if he was being lied to or not. He was so confused that he wasn't sure what to do next. "Are you sure you don't know anybody with that name…I meant, it seemed like you did 'cause you were even smiling as you said it in your sleep?"

Pushing herself away from the oven, Pam made her way to stand in front of Troy and placed her hands around his neck. "Troy, you don't actually think that _I_ would cheat on _you_, do you? Because to me that's what it seems like you're trying to insist…"

"No, no…I'm just confused…maybe feeling a little bit insecure right now, I guess. I don't know. Just forget that I even asked."

"Aw my little baby is feeling insecure? Sweetie, there's no need for that if you already have me…I'm all yours remember? It's been that way since the day that I said 'I do'." She tried her best reassuring act and smirked at him. He gave a small smile back in response.

"I know…I'm sorry." Troy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer against him. He kissed her softly and she deepened it. Her tongue played with his own as the soft kiss became heated. He grabbed her by the hips and lifted her body against his, her legs wrapping around his torso without breaking the kiss. Troy led them down the hallway to their bedroom and kicked the door close.

They wouldn't be coming out for the rest of the night.

* * *

The weekend flew by quicker than it had arrived and Gabriella found herself sitting behind her desk that early afternoon on a Monday; the beginning of the workweek. Taylor had left back to Albuquerque later that evening on Saturday after their pedicures and massages. She promised that both she and Chad would go to the party that was to be held the following weekend.

Running a tired hand through her long locks, she sat back in her chair and thought about any last minute preparations that would be needed for the event. Her mind was in a blur since she found it hard to concentrate. For some odd reason it kept flashing back to Toy's R Us in Manhattan. Why? She had no idea.

Maybe it was because she felt so stress-free at the Barbie house, unlike how she felt at that moment sitting with paperwork and outlines for the next issue. At the Barbie House, she was able to rediscover her childhood and the memories that were locked away with it. Back then she would drink fruit punch, get dirty, and make friends with kids that she didn't even know for more than a minute. Now she was grown up drinking coffee, hated to even find a stain anywhere, and would barely trust anyone that quickly. It's the cycle of being an adult.

Scratching out her thoughts, she pushed herself out of her chair and out the door, telling her assistant Valerie to call everyone in for a meeting to be updated on what was going on for Saturday. Minutes later, several employees entered the conference room and sat along the long table. Waiting for them to be silent, Gabriella began to speak.

"Good morning, everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend, as I know that I did. Um, I just wanted to see if everything has been confirmed for Saturday. First off, I want to thank and commend Heather for picking a beautiful location along the coast. For those who haven't seen or heard of it, it's called Metro Island Coast Bar. It's got one of the best views in California, which is perfect for when the party starts at sunset. I loved that you combined the idea of it being either indoor or outdoor since it has both. So, good job on that one. Next I'll begin by asking Cassidy and Rachel, what's the visual you guys have for me for the event? Got any outlines, blueprints, picture, or something?"

"Well, the place is spacious inside and out so we got tons of things going on. The theme we went for was fun, retro yet modern. We have several lime green round sofa's to be put in and black round tables to be set in the center of each of them. On top of them we have turquoise candles with an arrangement of yellow flowers and bamboos. It's pretty cool….here's a picture of the arrangement." Rachel handed Gabriella the picture and continued speaking. " Those seatings are to be placed in the front towards the sides of stage since the center is the dance floor. We have round tables for the dinner and those are to be towards the back. The cloths are yellow and the centerpieces are three large lime green candles…we decided to keep that simple. We replaced the brown bar stool's with yellow, lime green, and turquoise ones to match the color scheme we chose. Off the ceiling will be white party lights because Cassidy and I felt that colored ones would clash too much with the other colors we have going on. We also got some awesome mini disco balls to be scattered on the ceiling too. The stage will be decorated with a silver wall with holes in them. Inside the holes will be lights the color of our scheme shining through them…can't wait for you to see it. As for the outside, we got black benches and we're going to put turquoise padding that are outlined with yellow since we figured green wouldn't be necessary considering all the nature outside. The tiki poles that are to be lit will also be there outside for the lighting at night. And…that's all we have. How does that sound, boss?"

"So far, I love the visual you guys have given me…it sounds fantastic! You guys are to come with me on Thursday to make sure everything is there to be set up on Friday. Thanks for doing your part girls! Next is Melinda. What's on the menu for everyone?"

"Alrighty, appetizers are small turkey sandwiches, meatballs, and shrimp…a variety of everything basically. First part of the meal is a mini grilled chicken salad. Next is the choice of either lobster or chicken Parmesan. Afterwards for desert is chocolate mousse cake. Our caterer is Bella Italiano…I hope you don't mind that I went for Italian."

"No, no…Italian is fine. I'm glad that at least you didn't just make the whole menu Italian at least, you know. You put some seafood on there which is good to give people the option considering our location is next to the ocean."

"Okay then, excellent. As for beverages and alcohol, I already placed an order with the location with Heather to make sure we have enough supply of that for the evening." Melinda finished off her part with that statement.

"Well done, Meli. Sounds like things are moving along just great so far! As for Mallory and Diana, I also want to commend you both on the entertainment. You guys got some really big artists to come and perform, so kudos to you both. Kenneth, Iris, and Tracey, you guys already confirmed the security, publicists, and photographers to me so I guess that's already out of the way. I want the three of you to work at the door, by the way. Iris, you are to be in charge of who gets in and who doesn't; every guest must have his or her name on the guest list. Tracey you are working backstage making sure you don't see any funny business going around. Kenneth, I would like for you to also keep a watchful eye across the room too." Gabriella gave them a pointed look to express her seriousness for the moment and the workers nodded at her. She was a laidback boss and fun to work with but she had to be firm when necessary. "Val, how's the guest list, by the way? Who has confirmed of going?"

Valerie flipped through the pages of her notepad and stopped on a list. "As for guests, we should be expecting the cast of Gossip Girl, Nicole Ritchie with her baby daddy, Queen Latifah, Jordin Sparks, Jamie Foxx, the band members of The Fray, Pink, Kate Beckinsale, Taylor Swift, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, Rachel Bilson with Hayden Christiansen, Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson…" Valerie continued her list while Gabriella listened intently. She was satisfied by all the names she heard so far, excited but didn't let it show. She had to act like a professional when it came to things like this and not like a teenager.

"Sounds awesome! Before I forget, I'm having two friends of mine coming and they each might be coming with one of their own guests. Their names are Taylor McKessie and Chad Danforth. When you're done with the final copy of the list, please hand it over to Iris since she's at the door." Gabriella directed.

"Gotcha' Gabriella. No problem." Valerie scribbled down the two names on the list and closed her notepad.

"Anything else I should be informed about?" the boss asked. The room was silent for a moment since no one had anything to confirm or ask. "Okay then. Thanks again everyone. I must say that I'm extremely satisfied and as a reward since everything is in order, you guys could call it a day and leave early. Enjoy your afternoons."

The workers let out a sigh of relief and grinned for being able to get off from the job.

* * *

Troy was once again in the apartment, standing by the counter eating a bowl of cereal. He didn't have to be at the theater for another few hours so he figured he'd just chill out with Mugsy for a bit.

His mind was set on the Saturday that just passed. His wife said that there was no Lance; that no one she knew existed with that name. He believed her. He trusted her. Why did he even question her? He felt foolish for even thinking that she would do such a thing and kicked himself for it. What had gotten into him? He had been the unfaithful one and shouldn't assume that his wife was doing the same. It wasn't fair for her to practically be accused of it…or so he thought.

He finished his bowl and was about to go to the living room when he suddenly heard Mugsy in the hallway scratching on his bedroom door. Troy furrowed his brows wondering what had gotten Mugsy's attention. It must've been something inside the room, obviously. Troy walked down the hall and opened the door, revealing nothing inside but his furniture of course. He was about to leave the room when he heard a noise. It was a loud and annoying ringtone coming from a cell phone. It wasn't his phone since his was back in the kitchen. The annoying sound was coming from Pam's night table. It was Pam's phone.

'She must've forgotten it' Troy figured.

Walking to the table, he looked at the screen and saw that it was her mother calling. He frowned to himself and decided not to pick it up since she could talk for hours about pointless things that he wouldn't care much about. It stopped ringing and the phone showed that it had three missed calls. He picked the phone up and decided to see who the other two calls were from. Pam wouldn't have anything to hide anyway, right? It was a marriage and in marriages there weren't supposed to be any secrets even if he did have one of his own. He skimmed the list and saw that the other two were from her mom. It must have been urgent if she called three times.

Shrugging his shoulders, he scrolled further down the list when a name suddenly caught his attention.

Lance.

It was a missed call from yesterday.

"What the fuck? She said she didn't know any Lance's." he spoke aloud and read the name again to make sure he even read it right. "Did she just lie to me?"

Now he was confused more than ever. What was going on? If there is a Lance, then why did she need to lie about him? Is this guy some kind of importance to her? Looking over at the digital clock next to the bed, he saw that he had enough time to make it Pam's office for her lunch break to return her phone and to talk to her. He had the urge to get answers and didn't want to waste anymore valuable time.

Troy went to his closet and retrieved a jacket. He bid his goodbye to Mugsy and left for Pam's job. A half hour later, he arrived and stepped through the large glass doors and headed to the reception desk. The receptionist smiled at him for she recognized who he was considering that she went to his wedding and a few shows.

"Hey Mr. Bolton! How are you?" she asked.

"Hey Brenda…uh I'm pretty good, I guess. Wait that's lie…I don't know, I've been better."

"Doesn't sound like you're doing too good. Are you looking for Pamela?"

"Actually, I am. She left her phone at home and I wanted to give it to her in case of an emergency. Besides, the mother in law kept calling nonstop so I think its best that Pam calls her back or whatever. Did she step out to lunch yet?" he questioned.

"No, she hasn't. If I'm correct, a delivery boy just came in with some Chinese food for her. She should be upstairs in her office. Go ahead on up." She replied and moved her hand towards the elevators.

"Thanks Brenda." Troy said as he gave her a final wave and went to the elevator. He pressed the button for the sixth floor and nervously rubbed his hands together. He was convincing himself to just return the phone and talk to her later when she got home. There was no need to try and make a scene at her job. No need for it at all. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, revealing an office filled with various empty cubicles since people went to lunch. Taking advantage of not being stopped because people recognized him, Troy made his way around the cubicles and went towards the back where he knew his wife's office was located.

He was a few feet away when he noticed that the door was cracked open a bit. He heard a voice and easily placed it as hers. Next thing he knew, he heard another voice, a deep masculine voice. He stopped in his steps.

'Nah, it's probably not a big deal. She's probably having lunch with a coworker…no need to freak out.' Troy thought to himself, trying to reassure his conscience that there was nothing wrong with the situation.

Pam's giggles lingered out between the crack of the door and into Troy's ears. He silently stepped closer and listened.

"Oh Lance, you're such an idiot…a sexy one I might add…"

There was that Lance name again! Was he really hearing this? Could it be what he suspected all along? He couldn't have been making it all up, the evidence was right there behind the door.

He stepped even closer to the door and peeked inside. What he saw had twisted his heart and caused his breathing to become shallow. His eyes became wet and he shut them tightly for a few seconds. He opened them again hoping to not see his wife with her lips still on the mysterious man.

They still were.

Panicking and unsure of what to do next, Troy turned around quickly and rushed his way back to the elevator without making a sound. Stepping inside again, he pressed his back against the wall and let out several loud breaths of air trying to regain his composure.

'What the fuck was that? I did not just witness my wife two-timing me! I can't believe she had the nerve to fucking lie to me about it and smile in my face when I asked. How could she be so conniving and do this behind my back? What's her reason? How long has this _bullshit _been going on? I passed up the gorgeous and honest ex-girlfriend who I still freaking have feelings for because of my marriage to a woman who's playing me?' his mind jumped to different questions as he thought and couldn't stop the tears from falling.

The elevator stopped at the lobby and Troy walked quickly out before Brenda could stop him. He just walked and didn't know where to go. He wanted to clear his head of the pain he was feeling. He felt betrayed that his wife was unfaithful. But did he even have a right to feel that way? He had been disloyal to her a month ago.

Looking at his watch he saw that he still had enough time to make it to the apartment to chill for a bit before the show.

Walking back to the apartment, Troy was contemplating his next move of action. It didn't take him long to decide. He finally made it to his destination and opened the apartment door to be greeted by an excited Mugsy. Troy showed him some attention before whipping out his cell phone.

Was he seriously going to do the random thing he was about to do? Was it the right move? Should he seriously be considering the plan that was forming in his head? All answers pointed to yes.

He looked through his phonebook and stopped on a number. It was the number of his parents' house in Albuquerque.

"Um, do you know anything about my parents?" Troy couldn't help but wonder what became of his parents since he was lousy enough to not keep in touch with them. He felt slightly embarrassed to say the least that he asked her such a question.

"_Well last time I saw them, they seemed to be doing well. They're still living pretty well and both are in excellent shape. Chad would obviously know more about this though; I know he still sees them often…you know, they do miss you Troy…that I'm more than a hundred percent sure of. Why don't you ever give them a call? Or write them a letter? The number is still the same and so is the address…"_

Gabriella did say that the number was still the same. Should he call? He knew he wanted to. He had to if he wanted to make his plan possible. Besides, he did owe them that much since he had been an asshole to not keep in touch.

With his hand shaking nervously, he pressed the button with a green phone and held the phone to his ear.

_Ring._

_Ring._

_Ring._

"Hello?" the sweet voice of his mother had picked up. It was really her and after all these years, she still sounded the same. Troy stood silent for he was in shock that he even grew the balls to actually call his parents. "Hello?"

Realizing that he still didn't answer back, he cleared his throat and began to speak. "Um…hi…mom." Troy heard silence on the other side of the phone. He began to wonder if he did the right thing by calling at all since she still hasn't spoke back. Did she faint?

"Troy? Is that you?" he noticed that uneasy tone in her voice, probably in shock that it was actually her son calling.

"Yeah, its me." He answered. It was silent again but that was interrupted by his mother's squeal.

"My goodness! I can't believe its you! My baby! My Troy! My little Troy! Jack! Pick up the phone!" she yelled. Troy smiled to himself, chuckling at his mother's reaction and her eagerness for his father to pick up the phone. Moments later, Jack was on the line.

"Gosh, what is it? Who's on the phone?" Jack asked clearly annoyed.

"Dad…" Troy spoke nervously.

"Troy?" he imagined his father with a confused face and smiled to himself again.

"Uh, yep. It's me…How are you guys?" Troy asked.

"How are we? How the heck are you?" Jack excitedly asked back.

"I'm doing pretty good actually…I just wanted to call and see how you guys were…"

"We're doing good. Your father and I are still living well and obviously missing our little boy. I can't believe we're actually hearing from you. It's been such a long time…"

"I know…I know and it's my fault that it's been this long. I want to apologize to you both for that…"

"Save the apologies for later. I want to hear all about your life now. Did you make it to what you wanted? Ended up with the career you dreamt of besides basketball?" Jack asked, interested to know what became of his son's future.

"Where do I begin? It's not like I want to brag or anything but uh…erm…I'm living here in an apartment in New York and I work as an actor on Broadway." Troy summed up; leaving out that his apartment was shared. He was too pissed off to mention he was married.

"Broadway? My son made it big then, huh? I'm so proud of you sweetie!" his mother exclaimed.

"I heard you were doing well. Chad came by after his little road trip over there and told us that he saw you and that Kelsi girl. He said you were happy where you were and living well." Jack said.

"Yeah I did see him, Taylor, and Gabriella when they came here. They all looked pretty happy too and seemed to being doing good. It was great seeing everyone again and pretty shocking too…I wasn't expecting it at all."

"I'm sorry but this is a little off topic. I have a question for you Troy because your father and I are dying to see you. You're a few years overdue of seeing us and visiting your old home. We just really want to see our son and see how he's grown and become a man...I was wondering…" she was cut off by Troy's voice.

"Actually, now that you mention it, that was another reason why I was calling."

* * *

**So this is where the story has gotten us so far. I hope you guys like the direction its moving in which leads me to ask, are you guys satisfied with how its turning out so far? The last two chapters didn't really get many reviews at all...well considering that the story is seventeen chapters long, I haven't recieved as many as I would of hoped so I'm not even sure if you guys are completely happy with it. I'm not saying that you have to review but it would be nice to have some reassure every now and then. **

**Anyway, I was planning on breaking the chapter up into two but decided to get a few things out of the way and put those events together. Right move? I think so. **

**I got my fingers crossed that you all enjoyed this chapter and it's drama! Review!**


	18. Chapter 18

Two hours later, Troy found himself sitting at the waiting area at JFK. Another half an hour and his flight would be called to start boarding. He couldn't believe he was about to do the unimaginable and unexpected. Troy was going back home, his real home.

Sitting there alone since Mugsy had to be taken away in a cage with the luggage, Troy thought back to the conversation he had with his parents prior to his arrival to the airport.

"_Actually, now that you mention it, that was another reason why I was calling."_

"_What do you mean, sweetie? Are you actually thinking about coming?" his mother asked with a bit of hope._

"_I think so. I just really need to get home…to feel its comfort. I know I said that my life is good right now but currently it's becoming a whirlwind mixed with a roller coaster…and not the good kind."_

"_What's wrong, Troy?" his father asked._

"_I don't really feel like talking about it now. It's a pretty sticky situation…besides, I'd rather tell you guys in person to make sure you get all the details." He knew that his parents would shocked to find out about him even being married but that was something that he owed them in person._

"_That's fine. We'll take your word on that. So when do you plan on coming?" asked Jack._

"_I don't know…as soon as possible? Maybe later, maybe tomorrow, next week…not sure yet…if that's ok with you guys of course…"_

"_Troy, you should know that our door is always open especially to you…you're our little boy! You're more than welcomed anytime. I can't believe you're actually considering coming home…after all this time! You have tons of explaining to do whenever you decide to come, just so you know. Givin' you a heads up." Said Lucille._

_Troy chuckled at his mothers comment, "For sure, mom. I'll tell you guys about everything and anything you want to know. Deal?" Troy tried reasoning._

"_You got it, kid. I'm going to be holding that deal to you." Jack said._

"_Listen, I just really want to be there and see you guys. I didn't realize how homesick I felt until now that I actually called and heard your voices. Would it be too much to ask or any trouble if I wanted to come home tonight?" Troy nervously asked. He was silently praying that they weren't just saying that he was welcomed back that easily. He didn't deserve to be welcomed back just like that._

"_Did you not hear me when I said that our door is always open for you? Of course you can come! The sooner, the better! We miss you too much to just deny you…besides, what kind of parents would we be to do that to our baby?" his mother proved just how forgiving they could actually be._

"_Mom, I'm not a baby anymore nor am I little. Please stop."_

"_Some things will never change about you, huh? Still seems like you're embarrassed when I show you some affection." His mother said amusingly. He pictured her grinning from ear to ear._

"_Lucille, give the boy – I mean 'man' some space, will you? Can't you see you're messing up his rep or his game or whatever it is that the kids call it these days?" Jack chuckled to himself._

_Troy had to admit that he missed moments like this with his parents. They were so goofy yet serious when they had to be and loved them for it. At that moment, he couldn't understand why he didn't keep in touch with them years ago. This was everything he was missing out on and he began to regret it greatly._

"_Uh…right…dad you're just as bad sometimes. Anyway, I'm going to let you guys go. I got to inform some people of a very last minute vacation. I'll see if I could catch the first flight over there."_

"_Alright son, you go do what you got to do. Call us, alright?" Jack instructed._

"_Of course. I'll call when I purchase the flight at the airport…expect a call from me later."_

"_Okay…you be careful, you hear me young man? Don't forget to call us. Make sure you wear a sweater; the flights are always cold. Oh, and make sure to put on some comfortable shoes too because it's a long way-"_

"_Mom! Chill out…I'm grown. Don't worry so much." Troy almost sounded annoyed by the way his mother babied him; one of the traits he thought he wouldn't miss much but considering the years, he actually did. . _

"_I have to! I haven't verbally worried to you for almost five years! Do you realize how much worrying I have to make up?" she exclaimed. _

"_If only you were kidding…but I really got to go. I'll call you. I promise."_

"_You better." Jack said. There was an eerie silence that suddenly came on the phone. None of them knew what to say._

"_Um…I love you both. I hope to see you soon." Troy said nervously, scratching the back on his neck. His voice slightly cracked. He felt emotional. _

"_We love you too." His parents replied in unison._

"_Talk to you later. Bye."_

"_Bye."_

And here he was now, still waiting. Before he left, he packed his clothes and his prized possessions since he wasn't quite sure when he would be returning back to the city. After he hung up wit his parents, he called his boss and made up some excuse about his mother being in the hospital and very ill, practically near death. God forbid that anything like that would happen to his mom but he needed an excuse. Thankfully, they gave him a week off and Troy figured he would use that to his advantage on helping him decide whether he wanted to come back or not.

After calling his job, he dialed Kelsi's number to tell her the truth about where he would be. She was ecstatic about the news and even more so when he told her that he hopefully would be seeing Gabriella, which is if she even wanted to see him. Being the good friend that Kelsi has always been, she encouraged Troy to go for what he wanted and to make things right no matter how hard it would be. He appreciated how supportive she was about everything. He could always count on her because she never disappointed him nor let him down.

Twenty minutes had gone by, leaving Troy to wait for ten more. Not wanting to have to use the bathroom on the plane, he made his way to the bathroom just a few feet away and used it. Washing his hands after, he toweled them dry and went back over to his seat that he was previously sitting at. He took the time to send a quick text to Chad since they spoke every other week.

_Guess who's coming home :-)_

Not even a minute later, he received one back.

_Dude! You've got to be kidding me! You're coming home? =D_

Picturing Chad with that silly grin that he constantly had on his face, Troy sent another text back.

_Pretty much. Just wanted to let you know. Sorta busy right now so I'll talk to you later man._

He slipped his phone into his pocket when he noticed people were now standing by the entrance to the corridor to aboard the plane. It wasn't that much of a long line to make so Troy felt relieved and thankful for that. He gave his parents one last phone call to let them know that he would be boarding the plane.

Minutes later, he was seated at his window seat, staring at the darkening sky outside. That day was such an eventful one for Troy. Who would've thought that he would have caught his wife cheating, called his parents, and is on his way to New Mexico all on the same day? He certainly didn't.

Troy rested his head against the seat and just thought to himself. He thought of how he had possibly let his life get so out of control. He thought about how he managed to lose what he wanted most. Kind of like how he lost his own dream just as Gabriella did. In high school, his dream was to become famous whether it was basketball or acting. He wanted to make a name for himself with Gabriella by his side the entire way. While chasing his dream career, he managed to lose the greater part of the dream altogether, his love, his better half, his fate, Gabriella. How could he have been so stupid to think that she could've been replaceable and married Pamela? He couldn't have blamed her if she would've moved on after he left to New York but that didn't mean that he should've done it so quickly because look where it got him. It didn't get him anywhere.

Troy believed that he should've tried to have gone after her all those years ago. He should've tried to work things out and make the best of it because now he was regretting everything that happened. But this was his last chance to make things right. This was his opportunity to seek after what they had and still have. This was his time to conquer all the obstacles that he knows will be there and have the damsel fall in love with him all over again. He was going to try and fix every problem that he had awaiting him.

* * *

Pamela stepped out of the sleek black vehicle that belonged to none other than Lance. She hitched a ride home with him just like she normally would. Clicking her pumps up to her apartment, she stopped in her tracks in front of the door where she saw a note.

_I have a surprise for you…hope you like it babe. Meet me in the kitchen ;-)_

_-Troy_

She smirked to herself and opened the door with ease. Expecting to see Mugsy running out of nowhere, she was surprised when he didn't.

'That's odd…' she thought to herself but brushed it off when she happily wondered what Troy would have for her. He always had the best surprises. She slowly made her way to the kitchen in search of Troy but he wasn't there. She looked around and noticed her cell, a tape recorder, and another note on the counter.

"Press play." Pam read the note aloud and picked up the tape recorder and pressed play like she was instructed to. She listened closely as Troy's voice suddenly filled the room.

"Hey Pam. It's me, your _husband_. You're probably wondering what this is all about, right? Well to answer that, I just wanted you to know that I took a last minute trip back home to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Why? I just needed some space and a place to get away and think and I thought that there wouldn't be no better place than home. I bet that now you're wondering why I needed to get away and think…am I right again? I needed to get away because I just discovered today that my wife - which is you, has been cheating on me with who I'm assuming is your coworker, Lance. It's funny because you said that he didn't exist yet I saw the guy with my own eyes. Yeah, I caught you in your own lie but it wouldn't be fair for me to just put you down like that when I have a confession of my own. Not only did you cheat on me but I also cheated on you…once. I got to say that I'm sorry for doing it to you but it's a really long and complicated story. Even though you've been playing me for who knows how long, I want to say thank you. You're confused now, right? Let me help you out. I'm thanking you because if I would've never found out you were cheating, I wouldn't be trying to go back after what I lost…my family, friends, and a good girl. Everything that I'm saying has to do with my past. Look, as fucked up as it was for me to find out the way that I did, I still appreciate it. So what else is there left to say? Uh…I want a divorce. I'll have my lawyer meet yours and then we could just settle everything…you could have whatever you want but I'm keeping Mugsy. By the way, he's with me right now. If you have any questions or if you want to clear anything up, call me tomorrow because I'm probably on a plane right now and I don't want to deal with the bullshit at the moment. I guess that's all there is for me to say…take care of yourself, Pam. Maybe I'll see you soon. Bye…Oh! Before I forget, your mom left like three missed calls on your phone. Call her back; it seems urgent. But now I'm serious again, I got to go catch a plane. Bye."

Pamela felt so confused, upset, terrible, and sad. She began to pace the kitchen and decided to go to the bedroom. Once inside, she saw that the open drawers of the dresser were empty and so was Troy's side of the closet.

'What just happened? Did he just leave _me_? How the fuck did he find out about Lance? What the hell am I going to do now?' Pamela ran a frustrated hand through her auburn locks while a single tear escaped her eye. She had it coming but it still hurt to know that he wanted a divorce even though she wasn't that in love with him. She had no one to blame but herself. She played the game wrong and made the move that got her caught.

Looks like it was game over.

* * *

**And there you have it! Troy is on his way to conquer the world while Pam is left in the dust like she deserved to be. I know the chapter is a bit short but it's a filler. I just needed to get those events out there so I did. I hope you all liked it!**

**Before I forget, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I really appreciate getting them so please continue! REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I seriously had a minor writer's block when it came down to writing this chapter. I knew what i wanted to write but I just couldn't figure out how. I hope I don't disappoint anyone with this chapter. Since it took me a while to update, I decided that I owed you all a long chapter so here it is!**

* * *

Troy entered his old bedroom and stared at it in awe. It was exactly the same as how he left it all those years ago. It still had the same sheets, the same colored walls, the same posters, and the same curtains. Nothing had changed and he suddenly felt a wave of conformity overtake him. He let out a sigh of content as he stepped further into the room and placed his suitcases next to his closet.

Walking even deeper into the room, he looked out the window and into the backyard, smiling to himself as he watched Mugsy play with his dad. He felt happy to be home again with his parents and to actually see them. As he continued staring out the window, he began to reminisce on his arrival at the airport and being reunited with his parents.

_Troy had just finished claiming his bags and was stepping out into the fresh night air of Albuquerque. He was standing by the arrivals area where the passengers were to be picked up. He breathed in the scent of his hometown that he missed more now than ever. With his hands digging inside his pocket for his phone, he moved his head from side to side in search of his parents. Not seeing them anywhere, Troy pulled his cell out and dialed his father's cell phone number._

"_Hey. I'm finally here. Where are you guys?" Troy said._

"_We just finished parking the car about ten minutes ago. Your mom needed to use the restroom so we're inside right now. She should be done any minute now…which I still don't understand why females take forever in the bathroom…" Jack mumbled._

"_Don't even bother trying to figure that out. That's like trying to figure out the mystery of life or something."_

"_Yeah, you're right. By the way, turn around." His father instructed. At that moment, Troy did what was asked of him and came face to face with the people that he loved most. His eyes lit up with excitement and he smiled so wide that his cheeks would probably start to hurt after five minutes. He shut his phone closed and threw his arms around the waiting embrace of his mother. _

_"I can't believe you're here! My little boy is finally home!" Lucille sobbed as she squeezed him like she never had before. Jack stood beside her and smiled at the interaction. His own eyes became wet with the joy that built up inside him._

"_It feels so good to be back." A single tear rolled down Troy's cheeks and his vision began to fog. It felt so right to be back in the arms of the woman who raised him and loved him unconditionally. Nothing had felt this right and this good for about a month and half. But more importantly, nothing had felt this right between him and his mother since their separation. _

"_Lucille, stop hogging him. I missed him just as much as you did!" Jacked chuckled as he watched his wife continue squeezing their son and peppering his cheek with what seemed liked millions of kisses. He chuckled even harder when Troy started to make a playfully disgusted face from the affection._

_His mother finally pulled away from him and wiped off the lipstick stains on his cheek with her thumb, "Hush! I just couldn't help myself…I've been dying to see him since forever! What did you expect, huh?"_

"_Whatever. It's my turn now." Jack pulled Troy into a manly hug and patted his back. "It's good to have you home son."_

"_It's good to be here." His father let him go and they all stared at one another, in pure awe of the moment. Not wanting to break the intensity of their reunion, neither one spoke as they walked towards the car. Troy held onto his mother's hand and she squeezed it every so often, her way of showing how happy she was. She didn't want to let go because she feared that he wouldn't return again. Her and her husbands pride and joy was back where he belonged._

_"And I'll have the both of you men know that us females DO NOT take forever in the bathroom...there's just always a long line." Leave it to Lucille to always lighten the mood.  
_

Troy turned away from the window and continued admiring his room. He went over to his desk and found old notebooks back from high school on top of them. Geography, Chemistry, English, Trigonometry…you name it. Every subject was there. He grabbed his geography book and took a peek inside, remembering that he considered that to be his most boring class. He was often found scribbling little messages or doodling inside that book when his teacher wasn't paying attention. Flipping through the pages in the back, he found old drawings of racecars, planes, fire, basketballs…and then he found something else.

Troy stared at the old drawing, probably the most sentimental one of them all for obvious reasons. It was a drawing of a heart that took up the whole page. Inside he had written Gabriella's name and the date that they had first met at the ski lodge. Tiny hearts were scattered around her name and on the outside of the huge heart. His index finger traced her name slowly. She was one of the main reasons that he returned to where he was at now. He had to fix things. He had to tell her how he feels and apologize, even if she didn't want to hear it. She should at least know, she had to.

Troy let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes. He didn't realize how tired he actually was until then. He desperately needed some sleep, especially for the talk that he would have with his parents tomorrow. Not wanting to waste another valuable minute, Troy dug into his suitcase and pulled out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He changed into what he considered to be pajamas and pulled the comforter back on the bed. Snuggling beneath them, he rolled over to his side and was about to close his eyes when something caught his attention.

How many things did he actually have to remind himself of Gabriella? Too many.

On his night table was a picture of her a few months after she arrived to East High. He smiled thinking about how young she appeared in the picture. Opposite of how mature she looked a few weeks ago when he had last seen her. Nonetheless, she was still beautiful then and now.

Troy let out a deep sigh and turned away from the distraction.

It seems like he would spend tomorrow digging in his room to see what else he could find.

* * *

It seemed like it was the thousandth time that she rolled around in her bed. Why couldn't she just shut her eyes and sleep?

Something just didn't feel right. Gabriella couldn't deny that soaring butterfly feeling that she had in the pit of her gut. What the heck could be making her feel this way? She felt fine up until a few hours ago. Something was wrong and she just couldn't place her finger on it. She couldn't figure it out. She attempted to ignore her feeling dozens of time but failed each one. Gabriella rolled over again and looked at her clock: 2 AM. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she reached for her cell and dialed Taylor's number.

"Pick up MsKessie…" she said while chewing on her bottom lip.

"_Hello?"_

Gabriella smiled at her friend's groggy voice. She must've been asleep. That should be a given considering it was two in the morning. "Hey Tay…were you asleep?"

"_No shit…Gabs, it's two o'clock. Why are you calling?"_

"I couldn't sleep and I just wanted to talk to somebody and you were the first person to pop into my head…" she rambled out in one breath.

"_Aren't I lucky?", Taylor let out a loud yawn, "What's keeping you awake?"_

"I honestly don't even know. It's weird, Taylor. I have like this freaky feeling all over-"

"_Freaky? So why are you calling me instead of masturbating or something?"_

"Taylor! It's not that kind of freaky! Gosh, if it was then I wouldn't be calling you."

_"Just checkin'…continue…"_

"As I was saying before you're accusations, I have this freaky feeling of something just not being right. Like if something is going to happen."  
_  
"Sweetheart, maybe it's all in your head."_

"Maybe…I don't know. Whatever it is wont allow me to travel to dreamland and I'm frustrated because I just want to sleep so the big days ahead of me can come quicker."

"_Gabbi, go to sleep...or at least hang up with me so that you can try to."_

"You're already tired of listening to me? Gee, thanks."

_"I'm sorry but I'm extremely tired and you interrupted the awesome dream I was having with Denzel Washington." _This comment made Gabriella silently laugh to herself._  
_

"My bad. I'll just call you tomorrow. Sorry for waking you."

_"It's ok…don't make a habit of it. _

"I'll try not to."

_Goodnight."_

"Night. Bye."

Gabriella hung up her phone and placed it back on her night table. "So much for calling her."

She couldn't shake off the odd feeling that was surrounding the air around her. Something just wasn't right at all but she wouldn't be finding out what it was until the time was right. When was the right time? Only time could tell.

* * *

It was nearly 11:30 AM when Troy finally decided to roll out of bed. He let out a loud yawn and stretched his body out before walking to the bathroom to wash up. After throwing on a pair of black and white plaid shorts with a black v-neck shirt, he headed downstairs to the kitchen where his parents were sitting.

"Morning." Troy said to them as he took a seat next to his dad.

"Morning? More like afternoon." Lucille joked, earning a smirk from her son and husband.

"You know what I meant…so what's for lunch?" he asked.

"Your mom didn't make anything. She figured you would be asleep all afternoon so she didn't bother cooking anything up." Jack answered. As if on cue, Troy's stomach let out a rumble so loud that they could have sworn it was thunder.

"But if you're that hungry, I could make something for you real quick." Suggested Lucille.

"Nah, it's okay. I think I'm going to call up Chad and see what he's up to. Maybe I'll grab some lunch with him." Troy said before giving his mom a smile and walking to the backyard with his cell. He dialed up the familiar number of his good old friend and waited for him to answer.

"Hey man!…I'm good, how about you?…Awesome, I'm just here chillin' out…what you up to?…oh, you're heading over to the Pizza Palace? With who?… Alone? Why?…Oh okay, cool…geez, I'm sorry man but I got to let you go. I'll call you later…Bye."

He hung up his phone and headed back to the kitchen. "You guys, I'm going to head on over to the Pizza Palace. Chad's going to be there and he has no idea that I'm in Albuquerque yet so I'm going to surprise him."

"Alright. You could borrow my car if you want since your truck is still beat up now more than before. I don't want to mess up that rep of yours by making you drive that old thing…yet." Jack said with a smirk while handing his car keys to Troy.

"Gee, thanks dad." The sarcasm leaped out with Troy's voice. "I promise that when I get back, you both can ask me whatever it is that you want and I'll give you nothing but honest answers. Deal?"

"You got it. Now hurry up and go…the sooner you leave, the sooner you come back for the interrogation." Lucille said. She eyed Troy, letting him know that she was serious. "Drive safely."

"I will. See you later." Troy said while giving both of his parents a kiss on the cheek. "Love you guys!" he shouted before closing the front door.

He stepped into the BMW and quickly felt relaxed in the luxurious vehicle. "Note to self: purchase a BMW."

He began to drive and hummed along to 'Love in this Club' by Usher since that was what the radio was playing. Troy instantly changed the station when it the song made him think about what happened between him and Gabriella at the club before the hotel room incident. It's funny how there is always a song that either relates or reminds you of a specific moment, no matter what the moment was about. Whether it's good or bad, happy or sad, tragic or blissful, there's always a song to describe it.

Fifteen minutes later, Troy pulled up in front of the Pizza Palace and parked the car. He pulled his shades on to slightly disguise himself from Chad. He smiled to himself from how childish and giddy he actually felt at the moment. He walked inside the door and scanned for a curly afro that would let him know that Chad was there. It took him a few seconds to find it but he did. Chad was seated in a booth five tables away from him with his back turned from Troy. Smirking, Troy walked over to Chad's table and slid into the seat across from him.

Chad looked up from his menu feeling confused as to who sat at the same table as him but felt the confusion fade as the stranger removed his sunglasses. Both males smiled goofily at each other before letting out laughs.

"Bolton! My main man! What are you doing here?"

"Just dropping in for a bit, you know. Just wanted to visit and see how everyone was doing plus I was feeling a bit homesick. How are you, dude?"

"I'm good. What about you?"

"I've been better but to be honest, I'm feeling great being here." Troy answered. Chad continued to look at him with such amazement. Troy Bolton was back in town. "So what have you been up to since the last time I saw you?"

"Not much actually. Everything has been the same since our last actual conversation a few weeks ago. Basically it's been the same shit, different day", Chad said and stared at Troy, "Dude, I can't believe you're actually here. Where are you staying at?"

"My parent's house."

"They must've been so psyched to see you." The handsome caramel toned man said as he slammed his palms onto the table.

"You have no idea. My mom is all affectionate and all over me but I guess I should've expected that one. Dad's pretty cool…he's doing a good job at hiding his excitement compared to ma." Troy laughed as he said this, remembering how his mother had been babying him since he called them before he left New York.

"That's awesome man." Chad replied. Their conversation was cut off for a quick minute as the waitress took their order of a large pizza pie for the two. "So how long are you in town for?"

"I'm not sure yet actually. I only bought one ticket."

"You bought a one way ticket? Why?" Chad asked with furrowed brows. Was Troy planning on staying?

"I got a mess going on in New York right now that I know I have to deal with but I'm not sure when."

"Whoa, hold up. What's going on in New York?" Chad asked. He was so curious as to what was happening. He figured it must have been really bad if it had Troy running back home.

Troy ran a hand through his hair and over his face. He knew what Kelsi already thought so he thought that maybe it was time for the perspective from a man. "Well, I'm sure Gabriella told you that I was married, right?" Troy continued once Chad nodded his head, "Well, that marriage has gone down the tubes."

"What do you mean? What happened?" he asked and crossed his arms over his chest while leaning back against his seat.

"I'm guessing you know what happened between Brie and me. Am I right?"

"Yeah. She told Taylor and Taylor told me since I was curious as to why she left New York without us."

"She did what?" Troy suddenly leaned forward against the table with confusion written all over his face.

"Yeah man. She left New York by plane instead of road tripping back with us back over here. Tay said that she was so upset that she couldn't handle staying there anymore. She left us a note and everything back at the hotel." Chad shook his head as he remembered stumbling inside the room with a drunken Taylor and reading the note with her.

"I seriously fucked up. Shit…" Troy cursed to himself. He hadn't meant to hurt Gabriella especially that bad. He'll always regret the pain he caused her and he deserved every bit of unhappiness that he was getting right now.

"Pretty much. But what does that have to do with your marriage to what's her face?" Chad just couldn't put two and two together. But you can't blame him; he was still missing a few details to the story.

"Pam. Anyway, so I cheated on Pamela with Ms. Montez and that was the only time that I actually have cheated. I wanted to run after Brie but I just couldn't…not while Pam was still in the picture…especially as my wife."

"So you started to have feelings for Gabriella all over again?"

"That's just it. I always had feelings for her. My feelings for Gabbi never went away…like at all. Even though I did marry Pamela, my feelings were still stronger for Gabriella. Don't get me wrong, I did love Pam but it was nothing compared to Brie. Just seeing her all over again and being able to interact with her and touch her and kiss her made me realize that she was and has always been the one for me."

"So what are you going to do about Pam?"

"I'm getting a divorce. She's cheating on me with some lame ass dude named Lance anyway. Besides, my feelings aren't even there that much anymore so why bother to keep the marriage going, right? It wouldn't make sense to." Troy admitted.

"Good point. How long has she been pulling that stunt with the cheating?"

"I don't even know. I don't even care either. I just know that I can't be with her because we don't love each other…not like before at least. She cheated and so did I. I just think that we'll be happier without each other if we aren't even being faithful."

"And all this leads me to ask: Why did you come to Albuquerque?"

"I needed to get away and think. This place was the only place that would feel comforting enough for me to do that. I want to have everything that I had before. I want to have my parents. I want to have Gabriella. I want to have my best friend back which is you, by the way. I just want to be happy." Troy looked so vulnerable. It wasn't often that he let his guard down, but right now it was necessary. Why bother putting up a front for someone who knew him too well?

"Damn. That's tough. Look, you're Troy Bolton. You're going to make it out of this just fine…just like you always did. As for your wife or ex-wife, I say divorce her as soon as possible because that bitch doesn't even deserve you. I don't like her. And since you want to work thing's out with the Gabster, I think I could assist you with that one." Chad said with a smirk. Troy's head shot up and looked at Chad with so much hope shining in his bright blues.

"You can? How?" Chad chuckled from how excited Troy seemed to have suddenly gotten. A moment ago he seemed like the world was going to end and now he acted like a child who had finally seen snow for the first time.

"Caught your attention, huh? This Saturday in California is the big celebration event for how successful Gab's magazine has been. She invited Tay and me and we're allowed to bring one guest each. How would you like to be my date?" Chad was smiling, glad that he could possibly help bring his friends back to together.

"I don't know. Don't you think she'll be mad to see me there? I wasn't invited…" Troy suddenly became unsure of what Chad had in mind. It would be too risky to suddenly show up and pop out of no where without caution.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"Not really…"

"Then it's settled. You're coming with me to California on Saturday."

Troy gave in. Chad was right; there was no other way or time that he would be able to. "Fine…what should I say?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should say something like 'Listen here, woman! I fucked up big time and I know I'm an idiotic asshole but I'm an idiotic asshole who's in love with you!' Keep it original and creative but make sure everything you say is honest." Chad said.

"Uh… I think I'll just figure out what to say on my own. Thanks for the effort though."

"Now that we're on the topic, this has made me wonder what you must've said for your wedding vows which then leads me to wonder who the hell was your best man."

Here goes another long story – more like an explanation.

* * *

Two hours later Troy stepped back into his parents' house. He walked into the living room to find his parents sitting on the loveseat.

"Sit." Lucille ordered. Troy felt slightly confused and nervous because of how serious his both of his parents seemed.

"What sup?" Troy asked. He felt the tension in the air. Both of his parents' faces seemed strong and determined. It suddenly dawned on him that it was time for the interrogation.

"How was lunch with Chad?" Jack asked. It was now obvious that they were going to beat around the bush and make small talk first before it became serious.

"It was good. He was really surprised to see me. You should have seen the look on his face when I popped out of nowhere at his table. Priceless."

"I'm glad to hear that you had a good time then." Jack said and glanced at his wife. She nodded at him as though it were a signal to start asking questions. "Troy, we want to know just what it is that you've been doing all these years that you couldn't even come to visit or call."

How do answer something like that? What could possibly be said and be excusable for not making any kind of contact for such a long time? There was no excuse. Troy could've easily taken five minutes of his time or even on the days that he had off to at least send an email. But no, he never did. Troy felt ashamed for how foolish and selfish he was.

"I honestly don't know." He really didn't. It couldn't have been because of his job or his marriage. Neither of them were valid excuses.

"You mean to tell us that you basically haven't contacted us because you didn't want to?" Jack asked. He found it to be quite incredulous that his own breed didn't want to know anything about them.

"No! Its not like that at all…you got it all wrong."

"So then what is it like?" Lucille asked. So much need for an answer was shown in her eyes. She seemed almost desperate.

"Mom, Dad. I don't know how to answer these questions so please bare with me. I'll try my best to get my points across and to tell you what you want to know."

"Fine. When were you planning to tell us that you're married?" Lucille just dropped a huge bomb. Troy stared at her with shock as his jaw dropped.

"How did you know?"

"Does it matter? I'm you mother; I know everything. Now answer the question." She said firmly. This wasn't the sweet Lucille from earlier.

"Honestly, I was planning on telling you guys while I was here. And just for the record, I'm getting a divorce."

"A divorce? We haven't even met the girl and you're already getting a divorce. Why?" Jack asked with furrowed brows.

"Because we're not happy. We both cheated – I only did once and I have no idea how many times she has. Basically, why bother sticking to a marriage that's based on a lie. The love isn't there anymore on both parts so it isn't fair to stay loyal to a marriage when the couple isn't even loyal to each other."

"Is that why you came home?" asked Lucille.

"It's one of the reasons why I did."

"What are the others?" she continued to press on.

"Besides realizing how much I missed you guys because I did, I'm here to chase after what I lost."

"And what's that?" Looks like she wasn't going to back down.

Troy stood silent for a moment before answering. "Gabriella. She's the one who I cheated on Pam with. Pam's my soon to be ex-wife, by the way. I completely screwed myself over because I told Gabriella about my marriage after we almost did something and I'm sure she hates me right now. I just want to make things right and fix them with her, you know? I don't want to be on bad terms with someone that I still care so much about. I've lost her too many times to just let her get lost again…especially with a grudge."

"You still love Gabriella." Lucille stated rather than asked.

"How do you know?"

"It's like I said before, I'm your mother. I know it all. Besides, it's also woman's intuition."

"Well, I guess I'd be lying if I denied still loving her. I don't know what it is mom but I can't ever get her off my mind. She's always lurking somewhere in there."

"She was your first love. You never actually get over your first love. No one does. It's like your father and me. He was my first love and here we are now." Lucille said and looked over lovingly at Jack. She lifted her hand and caressed his cheek as he leaned into her touch.

Troy wanted that. Troy wanted everything that his parents shared and to feel the way that they felt. He wanted all of that with only one female with long midnight curls and gorgeous brown eyes. "What do I do?"

"You fight for her. You try to make things right as much as you can. She may not want to hear whatever you have to say but you have to let her know whatever it is that you're feeling. Your mother and I have always liked that girl, that's why we're encouraging you to chase her because we know how much she means to you and she's worth it." Jack said. Troy nodded his head in understanding. His parents were completely supportive of the situation. If he needed someone to always have his back, he knew he could always depend on them besides Chad.

"Thanks. It means a lot to me that you guys are all for me chasing after her." The son of the loving couple said. He showed the appreciation glittering in his eyes as he stared in theirs. "Is there anything else you guys want to know?" asked Troy. He figured that since they found out the big news that the conversation was most likely ending.

"Nope. That's it for now." His mother said. She waved her hand off at him to signal that he could leave and do whatever he pleased again.

Troy went up to his room and laid down on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and come up with imaginary pictures.

His first day back had gone considerably well. The talk with his parents had gone just fine; better than he imagined. He was back with his best friend who was willing to help him reunite with the love of his life even if he did fuck up and he had his parents support. Everything was going well.

Only one thing could ruin it.

A call from Pamela. Luckily for him, she hasn't called yet. He knew that she was going to sooner or later but he wasn't sure when. Hopefully it would be before Saturday. Troy already had too much to deal with on his plate for that day. He needed to come up with a plan for Gabriella and fast.

* * *

**By the way, I want to thank everyone who has been awesome enough to review my story. I'm glad that I have gotten a few new readers for my story as well...seems like I'm getting a few people hooked! Yay me! Thanks again though for the reviews. They put the smile on my face whenever I log into my email.**

**I'm sorry for the lack of Gabriella in this chapter. This whole chapter was basically dedicated to what's going on with Troy. Hopefully in the next one there will be more of Gabriella's life in it. Anyway, I hope you all liked what you read! REVIEW!!!**


	20. Chapter 20

**_A/N:_ I'm sorry for how long it's been taking for my updates. They aren't as quick as they once were but I'm trying! To explain myself, I'm informing you all that I've been working on a new oneshot that I'm trying to perfect and it's taking me forever and distracting me from this story. That doesn't mean that I'm not making time to write this one because I am. Also, please bear with me for the next month or so because this semester of college is almost done and professors are killing me with projects, presentations, papers, and finals that are going to be happening soon. I'm going to try to update whenever I can but please don't become antsy when they arent that quick. Anyway, on to the story!**

* * *

It was Friday, the day before the big event in California and Gabriella was going crazy with getting that hall set up.

"At what time are you and Chad coming down tomorrow?" She was obviously speaking to none other than Taylor.

_"Chad and I should be walking in at about 7:30-8:00ish or so."_

"And are you bringing anybody?"

_"Nope…I'm going to be the lone ranger of the evening."_

"What about Chad?"

Taylor was hesitant to answer the question. She knew just who Chad would be bringing but she couldn't just tell her best friend that he was going to bring someone, especially if its _him. _She would just have to lie even if she didn't want to…it was for Gabriella's own good. _"Nope. Not that I know of. He hasn't mentioned anything to me so I'm assuming that he'll be alone as well."_

"Alright then. I'll still have the two additional seats open for you guys in case anyone comes last minute."

"_Uh…sure thing. That's fine."_ Taylor stammered out. She felt horrible that she had to lie but what else could she possibly do? She didn't want to force Gabriella to see Troy but she did want to help. Besides, she knew her best friend just wanted to be happy and this was just a helpful nudge in the right direction without her knowing.

"By the way, are you guys still going to be staying at my house this weekend? I totally don't mind at all. I'd actually like for you guys to come even if you guys do bring someone else with you last minute. It'll be fine…I got more than enough space here."

"_Or so you think…"_ Taylor mumbled and faked a cough.

"What'd you say? I don't think I caught that." Gabriella furrowed her brows and pressed her ear against the phone more to try and make out whatever Taylor was trying to say.

_"Nothing…just complaining about the amount of dust I just found on top of the shelf."_ The dark beauty covered up. _"But yeah, that sounds good. I'm down for staying at your house. It's better than paying a hotel room especially if it's not necessary to."_

"Exactly my point." Gabriella said and just before she was about to open her mouth to say something else, she heard something crash on the other side of the enormous room. "Ugh! Great! Something else to add to my freakin' stress! Taylor, I'll call you back later."

_"Hang in there, sweetie. It'll be worth it tomorrow."_

"I hope so."

_"Later Gabs."_

"Bye." She shut her phone and dragged her feet across the room towards the commotion. "What could've possibly happened now?"

She made it to the sight of disaster and found that one of the mini disco balls that they rented had fallen. Gabriella yelled out in frustration.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Taylor was losing it. Wait, no that was an understatement.

She was freaking out.

How could she be able to face her best friend tomorrow and show up with Chad and Troy? She could pretend that she found out that same night but Gabriella would at least expect a text or something ahead of time to warn her but Taylor knew that wouldn't be the right move to make. If she texted or called her ahead of time to give her a heads up, Gabriella would be avoiding everyone the whole night.

She felt like she wanted to back out but there was no way of backing out now. Gabriella would need her tomorrow and the rest of the weekend. Taylor was more than sure of that.

Unsure of what to do or how to handle the situation, she was out the door and already in her car on her way to Chad's place. Her conscience was eating her up inside and she knew it was the right thing for Gabriella but she wasn't sure how she would take it. She feared for the worst due to the unsettling feeling at the pit of her gut.

Was this ultimately the right thing?

Taylor was more than one hundred percent sure that Troy would be with Chad. She figured that maybe she could talk to him and get his point of view on all of this. Besides, he's the one that Gabriella doesn't want to see anyway – for now. Maybe he could even convince Taylor that everything would be okay and to just relax since it wasn't her problem.

Oh wait, they're making it her problem too. How could she have forgotten?

Lying wasn't Taylor's thing at all especially to people that meant a lot for her. Gabriella was one of those people. They were like sisters since day one. Deciding to just ignore the problem for now, she continued driving for about another ten minutes before pulling into Chad's driveway.

She fumbled with the release of the seatbelt, already feeling the slight jitters come back again. She predicted that tomorrow she would be a wreck and that's if she even makes it 'til then without saying word or chickening out.

She stepped out the car and frantically walked up the walkway to the front door. Taylor quickly knocked on the door about twenty times. She was desperate to let out her stress and talk it out. Rolling her eyes and letting out a frustrated sigh, she looked at her watch. It was only six thirty; Chad had to be home.

As if having the instincts of a dog, her ears perked up as she heard the sound of loud grunts and a dribbling basketball. How could she have been so naïve?

"Duh! He's in the back…gosh, what else would that retard being doing?" She said to herself as she walked off the porch and around the side of the house towards the yard. Surely enough, that's where she found Chad and Troy.

"No way you're going to win this time!" Chad taunted as he blocked the three pointer that Troy was trying to throw.

"Please, I could beat you with my eyes closed and a broken arm!" the blue-eyed hunk replied.

Taylor didn't mind watching at all. It was like she was in a fantasyland of basketball porn. Two very attracted men playing shirtless as they jump around fiercely for a ball, as though they were two lions fighting for that night's dinner. Beads of sweat rolling off their chiseled chests and faces as they continue to taunt each other and make those sexy grunts of frustration. Their somewhat visible groins bouncing around in their basketball shorts that hung low on their hips. Oh yeah, it was definitely basketball porn heaven for Taylor.

She mentally shook herself out of her daze and called out to them," Guys!"

No response.

"Hello? Guys!"

Still got nothing.

"Would you freaking jerk off's drop the ball for a minute and take notice that you have company?!?!"

That did the trick.

The guys dropped the ball and turned to face her direction. "Now that our game seems to be officially interrupted, what can I do for you, McKessie?" Chad asked with a slightly annoyed face.

Taylor noticed that she must have hit a nerve with the guys from the glares they were giving her. It wasn't her fault that she had such a guilty conscience. She had to blame that one on Chad for telling her about Troy in the first place. "I need to talk to you…both of you actually."

"What's on your mind, Tay?" Troy asked as he laid out and stretched his shirtless body on the grass, panting for air from the intense game of basketball.

'What's on my mind? Pft, how the heck did my best friend not sleep with you – that's what's on my mind. Wait! I can't believe I'm checking him out….ew, how wrong is that? Well it's not that wrong considering that he is one hunk of a man and I haven't gotten any in awhile…' Taylor mentally rambled and shook her thought out and blushed. It wouldn't matter though, its not like either guy could read minds anyway. "It's about tomorrow."

"What happened with tomorrow?" the perfectly sculpted figure on the grass asked, the worry was evident in his tone.

"Look, I don't know if I should bother riding in the same car with you guys over there. As it is, I'm supposed to pretend that I have no idea about you accompanying Chad…and if I show up with you both then she's going to be pissed with me." Taylor replied.

"Why would she be mad at you?" Chad quipped up and sat beside Troy on the grass.

"Because it would insinuate that I know something and if I know something, then I'm supposed to give her a heads up."

"So what are you suggesting…that I call off my date after I already invited him? That's pretty rude, don't you think?" Chad said as he playfully put his arm around Troy's shoulder.

Taylor rolled her eyes at this and chuckled as Troy pushed his friend's arm off him. "That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that if we play this, we're going to have to play the parts better."

"Go on…" Troy said.

"Well for starters, I'm serious about not showing up with you guys. If I leave in my own car before you both do, then I'll be there at her house before in time for her to think that I had no idea that you were even in Albuquerque. Secondly, you guys need to come up with sleeping arrangements because I'm staying at her place. Chad, you're supposed to be staying there too but I don't know how she'll feel about Troy being there. Besides, it would be rude of you to leave your 'date' so you need to figure that one out."

"Dude! You didn't tell me that you were going to crash at Brie's house!" Troy said as he gave Chad an incredulous look.

"My bad. That completely slipped my mind, honestly." Chad held his hands up in defense.

"Obviously. What are we going to do?"

"I was on the phone with her earlier and she was insisting that Chad and I stay with her. She even said that there was more than enough room in case we brought people with us. I mean, I know she's being open and friendly with the invitation with us but I have the gut feeling that she might not be up to letting you be the exception." Said the only woman there.

"I don't think she would want me there…at all. I mean, it's bad enough that I'm going to the event without her knowing so I don't think she'll be up to letting me stay there with you guys. I highly doubt it." Troy said. He looked down and had a distant look in his eyes as he thought to himself..

"Listen to you two! You guy's got to be kidding me. Gabriella is one of the nicest people that I've ever met. We're all mature here and you know how she is about leaving people out – it's not her thing. I'm sure that even though Mr. Bolton here fucked things up, she'll be willing to let him stay. She'll probably be willing to push the differences aside for the sake of saving things from being awkward. It's the mature thing to do." Chad looked back and forth between Taylor and Troy. He truly believed that Gabriella would be a softy and allow Troy into her home.

"But that's just it. You weren't there when I told her the big news. You didn't see the look on her face or hear the pissed off words that she said. You didn't see any of it. Maybe I shouldn't even go…"

"Don't be ridiculous. You didn't come all the way over here for nothing, did you? I don't think so. Troy, you love her. Fight for what you love. I know she still feels something for you…I think the whole world knows that if they understood her editor in chief letter for last month's issue. Don't give up. Me stopping by wasn't meant to make you feel discouraged. If anything, it's just to help you so you know what to expect and what's going to go down. I just can't deal with lying but I'm going to suck it up for your sake." Taylor sat on the other side of Troy and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You go get our girl!"

He laughed at the last part and so did Chad. It lifted up the mood of the quite unhappy moment.

"That's what I'm aiming to do…hopefully it all works out that way."

* * *

It was like déjà vu or merely a coincidence.

It was that sick gut feeling that just wouldn't go away.

Gabriella had been tossing and turning the whole night and couldn't seem to have just rest her eyes. She rolled over and looked at her clock. 3:45 AM.

Frustrated from her lack of sleep, she pushed the thought aside and figured that it was probably because she was nervous for the party later on. After all, it was a big event that could break her career if anything went wrong.

She sat up on her bed and wandered over to the fridge and served herself a cup of orange juice. What was there to do at this time in the morning? She could watch infomercials on random channels, organize her closet, or just lay in bed until she could finally sleep. Instead of doing either of those things, Gabriella went back to her room and grabbed the camera upon her dresser. It felt like forever since she last took photos or even looked at any.

"I seriously need to update my facebook photos…but no way in hell am I going to do that looking like this…" She said to herself as she looked at the mirror above her dresser while holding the camera in her hand.

Gabriella sat upon her bed Indian style and turned the camera on. "Let's see what we have on here." Skipping through the pictures, she saw that the last time she used it was when she was in New York.

"Oh wow…" she said aloud with a giggle as she stared at the picture of Chad sleeping with drool on his chin. "Good memory."

The pictures of the sights that they saw, the enormous Barbie house from Toys 'R' Us, the pictures from the road trip; all of that put a smile on her face while she reminiscence. Those were moments of happiness and times that she could always look back on and remember the fun that raveled her life. She could always look back on those memories and think about how true and dear her friends really are. They were without a doubt her second family and irreplaceable.

Too bad that nothing can last forever – even if its just thinking back on happy memories.

Gabriella stumbled across pictures of that night. The night where everything changed even more and turned her world into a whirl winding roller coaster. The smile that she had melted off her face like slippery butter to a steaming pan. She began to frown looking at pictures that she didn't even know existed. They were pictures of Troy and her on the dance floor at the club. She had to admit to herself that they looked very intimate, sexual, and yet passionate. They were pushed up against each other's bodies and you could obviously tell that they were grinding. But the passion came from a specific zoomed in picture of their faces. They were looking intently at one another and their faces seemed so serious but soft. Surely there was enough lust oozing from their body language but their eyes had passion. She couldn't deny being able to see that from the picture.

Her eyes started to water as her mind flashed to the events after that led her to back out of the rest of the road trip. Her goal of pursuing the one that got away was crushed that night. Troy damaged all of her hopes of being able to call him hers and for her to belong to him. She wanted to desperately be his again and have that in return that she did the crazy thing of traveling across the country for him only to find out she was too late. He wasn't meant to be hers again.

'I should of tried harder to make him stay in Albuquerque when I had the chance. He would've never married that damn trifling man stealer if I just could've convinced him more. None of this would've happened!' Gabriella mentally yelled at herself and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. For her, it felt as though the world was crashing against her shoulders. Nothing seemed like it was going to be alright.

How could she ever forgive him for humiliating her and for lying to her in such a way? But most importantly, how could she ever forgive herself for being so foolish? He might have caused her that pain but she couldn't help but to blame herself because she allowed for it to happen. She was being too open with her emotions and knew that she was playing with fire with an 'involved' man. What bullshit was that word. But it wasn't entirely her fault. He did lie when he knew he should've been completely honest from the get go.

Out of pure frustration, anger, and stress, Gabriella began to delete every picture that Troy was in. Tears fell rapidly along her cheeks but she didn't care. She gasped for breath as the room suddenly became too stuffy to think straight and threw the camera across the room and crashing to the carpeted floor. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face between them. She sobbed and her body shook uncontrollably.

It had been weeks since she allowed herself to think about him and what he had done to her. The intense impact crashed against her fragile frame like a tidal wave that became too much to take. She fell over on her side and curled up into the fetus position. Her head felt like it was spinning even though she was lying down. Her vision became a blur and she felt the sweat rise to her skin from the lack of air in her lungs.

_"No, you're not pathetic…you cant always control what the heart feels Gabby. It happens, its normal. No one ever said that getting over your first love is easy especially after the years that you guys were together. I mean four years is a long time!"_

Those words that belonged to Taylor suddenly popped into Gabriella's brain. She may have not been considered pathetic before the road trip but she definitely felt pathetic once she returned from it. How did she let Taylor convince her for that?

_"Well, if your heart must insist on its feelings for Troy, do something about it! What do you say we try looking up Mr. Bolton? You know, like where he could be. Basically track him down and set out on a road trip and find him! Doesn't that sound exciting?"_

Oh wait – that's how she was convinced.

She continued crying to herself as the broken reel in her mind kept replaying that stressful weekend. Seconds that became minutes and minutes that became an hour, Gabriella was asleep with tear stained cheeks.

She was going to look like hell in the morning.

* * *

**End of Chapter! This is just setting up the drama and hype that I plan to have for the following chapters. I noticed that my last one didn't get many reviews but I kind of understand and anticipated that reaction. I found the last chapter to be somewhat boring and didn't expect to get many anyway but I needed to prepare a few things and I couldn't just go on without having reactions to Troy being back. By the way, did anyone see Zac Efron on SNL? The sketch for HSM4 was hilarious! **

**Anyway, are there any opinions? comments? thoughts? Let me know in a review! Thanks!**


	21. Chapter 21

**_A/N:_ Hello! So I've been gone for a few days now and let me tell you, I missed writing! I've been so busy with everything going on with my life though that I haven't had time but I did finally finish this chapter. I'm not really that satisfied with how it came out because I feel that it was written in a rushed manner but at least I did it. I hope you guys think the opposite!**

* * *

Stress is something that can either drive you insane or drive you to your own death. It's not taken lightly because it's something that shouldn't be. It's normally caused by a series of events or pressures that one simply can't handle that well at the moment.

Gabriella was under some serious stress.

There was so much pressure on how tonight would be that she nearly felt sick just thinking about it. Each time she looked at the clock, the clenching feeling in her stomach only felt tighter and as though she could throw up from the tension. There were six hours left until it was time for the event to begin. Six hours for her to get ready and make sure that everything was set up properly. Six hours for Gabriella to try and contain her cool and look relaxed – something that she was finding hard to pull off.

Truth be told, she was mentally preparing herself for the worse. If the night didn't go well, she would at least be able to say that she saw it coming. If it did go good, then she could feel surprised and more successful about the situation. Looking at the clock again, she became anxious. Five hours and fifty-seven minutes until it was time.

She was sitting on her sofa waiting for Taylor to make it to her house so they could head over to the salon and beautify themselves. Her leg shook furiously as she bit her bottom lip.

'Come on, McKessie! What's taking you so long?!' Her mind was a jumbled mess and she couldn't even think straight. Suddenly, the ring tone that she had been anticipating for over a half hour was finally ringing on her phone.

"Tay! Where are you?" She picked up her phone quicker than you can say 'cup'.

_"I'm outside your house. I just finished parking-"_ Taylor spoke calmly, sensing the anxious tone in her best friends voice.

"Don't get out your car! I'm coming right now." Gabriella frantically grabbed her keys and locked the door. She ran down the steps that led to the door and down the walkway, meeting Taylor at the very end. Walking around to the passenger door, she slid in and greeted her friend.

"What's got you all worked up?" Taylor asked.

"I'm just so stressed out. Between this event and making sure that I look perfect for press that's sure to be there plus I been having this bad sickening feeling that something is going to go wrong; all of that is making me feel like I'm insane!" Gabriella replied. She strapped on her seatbelt as Taylor pulled out of her parking and made way to the salon that she and Gabriella were infamous for going to.

"Don't worry so much…you're going to get wrinkles by the time you're thirty if you keep on." Taylor scoffed.

"Gee, thanks. That was quite comforting." The sarcasm dripping with each word she spoke.

"Anytime. So changing the subject to make you stress free, what are you going to wear tonight?"

"It's a surprise. You'll see it later. What are you wearing?" Gabriella said with a smirk.

"It's a surprise." The driver replied with a smirk of her own.

"Touché."

The girls continued speaking animatedly and Gabriella soon forgot her worries. It was time to just relax and enjoy the afternoon of pampering and styling with her best friend. She figured that she might as well think of it as a regular girly afternoon rather than preparations for a night of work.

They were quickly attended to once they arrived and fell into the realm of relaxation as they sat side by side in the chair of each of their stylists. Gabriella was having her hair pinned up in a unique hairdo while Taylor was getting her hair straightened.

"I still don't understand why Chad didn't come up early with you…it makes no sense…" Gabriella said while the stylist continued pinning up her hair.

'You'll understand why later…' Taylor thought but knew she wouldn't be able to say it out loud. "He thought he would be bored while we had our girl afternoon time."

"Yea but you guys are wasting double the gas."

"He's a guy. You know how guys are so stubborn and never want to listen…especially Chad." Taylor said while fumbling with her fingers. Gabriella was staring at Taylor through the mirror and she noticed Taylor avoiding her gaze.

"Tay? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" she shifted her eyes to the mirror and looked back at Gabriella.

"No reason. Just askin'." Gabriella bit her lip and sat silent for a moment before another thought crossed her mind. "Hey, do you know if he's going be staying with us? You know, so I could set up the other guestroom really quick when I get home."

"Um, not that I know of. He didn't confirm his reservation to me about staying with you." Taylor was moving slightly in her chair, obviously feeling uncomfortable. She silently hoped that Gabriella wouldn't notice because if she did then the plan was going to go downhill.

Gabriella chose to ignore Taylor's change of mood and pretended to not notice. Something fishy was going on and she was going to figure it out. Or was it just her?

"Who knows what's going on with that boy…"

"If I'm correct, he did mention having a few things to take care anyway." Taylor replied.

"Really? Like what?" Gabriella furrowed her brows. A huge question mark was written all over her face.

"Not sure." Replied the darker beauty.

The girls fell right back into a comfortable silence that Taylor was more than thankful for. If Gabriella asked more questions then she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Time was still ticking and the girls finally got their hair finished. Both looked absolutely stunning and radiant and they weren't even dressed yet.

Three hours left.

The ride back to Gabriella's house was filled with the females speaking enthusiastically about the celebrities that they would finally be able to meet.

"Oh please! You're the editor in chief so I'm sure you've met quite a handful of people already!" Taylor exclaimed

"So? Do you know just how many more will be there? Plenty! Just the thought of that part excites me. I can't wait to actually meet Zac Efron."

"And I can't wait to meet Corbin Bleu! That man can light my fire anytime he wants. Besides, it doesn't matter if you meet Zac because isn't he still with that Vanessa girl?"

"Yeah, so? I've already dealt with a married man before so this one wouldn't be as bad since they aren't even engaged." Gabriella said with a giggle. She knew that it sounded bad but decided to try and convince Taylor that she was moving on enough to joke around about it.

Although Taylor knew she was just joking, she couldn't help but to tense up and what Gabriella was referring to. Instead, she let out a forced chuckled of her own. "Right…Gabs, you don't have to try and make light of the situation."

"Why not? I might as well. It's not like I have to be upset about it forever or hold onto a grudge."

"So are you trying to tell me that you're moving on from the situation and forgiving Troy?"

"Forgiving Troy? Are you kidding me? I'm not forgiving him that quickly…he doesn't deserve my trust just like that anyway. I'm doing the whole forgive and forget thing, just without the actual forgiving. Besides, its not like it matters if I forgive him or not. He's in New York living his perfect life with his perfect stupid freakin' _wife_."

"He aint there no more…" Taylor mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"I swear you do a lot of mumbling these days."

'And I must admit that I'm getting pretty good at saying things without you catching on.' She thought as she glanced over at Gabriella. "You do know that he still loves you, right?"

Gabriella looked over at Taylor and gave her an incredulous look. She wasn't expecting her friend to say that at all and it kind of took her by surprise. "Maybe. But he's married…"

"Just because he's married doesn't mean that he cant still feel something for you…because he does."

"How would you know?" the olive toned asked with annoyance in her voice.

"I just do. I mean, you should've seen the way that he looked at you when we were in New York. It wasn't a 'brotherly love nice to see you kind of look', nor was it a 'lets just hurry up and fuck' look either. It was the 'love of my life' look. Lets put it this way, even Chad noticed and he's usually oblivious to these things."

"I don't know…"

"Maybe you guys should talk out your differences." Taylor suggested. Gabriella scrunched up her face from the mere thought of communicating with Troy.

"How? He's nowhere near here and I refuse to go back and make an ass out of myself again."

"Who knows, maybe it'll come to you." Taylor said with raised brows, her eyes still focusing on the road ahead.

"But when? I can't just keep waiting around for something that isn't going to happen – especially now! He's already happy…I don't want to be a home wrecker…"

"We don't know the whole story. If Troy were truly that happy then he would've told you that it was a marriage and not just an involvement. Plus, he'd be the home wrecker for allowing such things to happen.

"Yeah…whatever." Gabriella undid her seatbelt as they pulled into her driveway. It was now time to get ready. "Let's see if you're right…"

* * *

"I have a really bad feeling about all of this man." Troy was nervous. He could feel his palms sweating like mad and his heart beating beneath his toned chest. The little voice in his head was taunting him with laughter and remarks about how stupid he might be to think that this could possibly work.

"Just relax. Everything is going to be alright…" Chad tried to show some reassurance. Truth was, he knew that everything wasn't going to be alright but what else are you supposed to say when your best friend who is freaking out in the passenger seat when you're already driving to the thing that they're scared of?

"That's a crock of shit." Troy obviously saw through the bullshit but he did shoot an appreciative smile in Chad's direction.

"Can't say that I didn't try to help your pussy ass out. What more could you look for in a best friend, huh? He asked cockily.

"Better hair."

"Don't even go there! Don't you dare diss the hair, Bolton." Chad left one hand on the wheel and pointed his index finger in Troy's face with his other hand with an exaggerated look of annoyance.

"Sorry. Its fun getting a reaction out of you...So what is it that we're doing?"

"Hello? We're going to the magazine party…duh."

"I knew that part already but I meant like what are we doing when we get there. Are we going straight to the party or getting a hotel first…"

"We're going straight to the party. Afterwards, if Gabriella isn't so freaked out by your presence and decided to blow over the situation, then we'll see if she'll be willing to let us stay at her place. If not, then we get a hotel." Chad said nonchantely.

"We? Dude, you could stay with her and Tay if you want. It's really ok. I'll get the hotel alone if anything."

"No can do. We did everything together when we were little and never left each other's side - except for when you left." Chad said with a smirk at Troy. "Oh, and even though you let Kelsi be your best person at your wedding, I'm still man enough to accept that and look past it to not leave you hanging...although I should…"

"Thanks…for everything."

"What are brothers for?"

The two fell into a comfortable silence with Troy looking at the car's radio clock every so often. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous about seeing Gabriella. Truth is, he was nervous, excited, anxious, and impatient. He would finally be able to see the face of the angel that he's been dying to look at and be in her presence once again even if he didn't deserve it. He believed that he didn't even deserve to breathe the same air as her but he wanted to change that. It was up to him to make things right and he was willing to do whatever it took for that to happen.

"How much longer until we get there?" Troy asked.

"Roughly, about another thirty minutes or so if we continue to not have traffic."

"A half hour? We're almost there already?" his voice shook and became a tone louder.

"Would you just freakin' sit still and calm down…geez, you're such a girl sometimes"

"Like you wouldn't get like that if the situation was about Taylor."

Chad took awhile to contemplate it but knew he couldn't deny that. Troy knew the truth so there was no use in lying. "Yeah, you got a point."

"Exactly. When do you plan on making the moves on our little Ms. McKessie?"

"I don't know. Who's to say if she's even interested?"

"I do because it's painfully obvious."

"Shutup."

"Can't handle when I'm right?"

"No, you're just being a pain in my ass. By the way, did Pam ever call you?" Chad asked. The mood in the car suddenly became more serious rather than the playful banter that they just had.

"Nope and I'm hoping that she doesn't have bad timing and call me this weekend. I've been here since the beginning of the week and if she hasn't called now then I'm guessing that she might not. She's probably in denial and is waiting for me to come back to talk about something that just isn't there.

"Are you going back?"

"I don't know. Like I know that going back is the responsible thing for me right now but it's not where I want to be at all."

"I see…"

"Look, not to be an asshole or anything but I really don't want to talk about this right now. Especially right before I try to spill my heart out to the true woman of my dreams…"

"Don't get all sappy and romantic on me."

"Sorry…it's in my genes."

* * *

"Holy crap! This place looks awesome, Gabs!" Taylor exclaimed upon their arrival.

"Thanks…I have my fabulous entourage aka employees to thank for this one. They really did a great job." Gabriella was never the one to fully take the compliments for herself. She always accepted them with gratitude but would mention how it wasn't always her work for such masterpieces.

"Whatever. It looks like its going to be a great night. Shit, is that Kelly Clarkson sitting over there?" Taylor asked as she pointed her finger in the direction of the opposite end of the room.

Gabriella stood on the tips of her toes and lifted her head higher to get a view. "Indeed it is. By the way, your table is the VIP one next to hers."

"Seriously…who's sitting at my table anyway?" Taylor eyes widened as she asked.

"Besides you and Chad, a few celebrities…"

"Like who?" she nearly jumped up and down with excitement.

"I can't remember. You'll see later anyway. Listen, I got to go and do some work and tons of mingling so I'll walk you to your table and be on my way." Gabriella said and Taylor nodded her head in response. The females walked to the table and Gabriella left to take a few photos for the photographers. Taylor played with the hem of her black mini dress before fidgeting her fingers.

She suddenly felt bored and lonely. Where was Chad when you needed him?

As if on cue, Chad pranced right through the door with Troy right behind him. Taylor's eyes widened with surprise that Troy seriously had the guts to come and didn't chicken out. She felt proud yet scared for him since she knows that he has quite a lot in store for him.

Troy's eyes frantically scanned the room for the ebony hair of the one he wanted to call his. Chad noticed this and put a hand on Troy's arm.

"Dude…relax…breathe." Chad instructed and continued to walk in the direction that he spotted Taylor.

Troy followed close behind. It was painfully obvious just how nervous he truly was. His eyes didn't stop darting around the room and to avoid fidgeting, he stuffed his hands in his pocket. The guys finally approached the table and sat on either side of Taylor.

"You guys finally decided to show up." She said with exaggerated annoyance.

"How long have you been here waiting?" Chad asked as he glanced at his watch.

"About ten minutes or so." Taylor replied with a smirk. "Hey Troy."

"Hey, Tay. Sup?" he nodded his head in her direction before searching the room again.

"Not much…you feeling okay? You look like you're about to pass out." Taylor looked slightly worried for a moment. She knew better than to ask if he was all right especially if she knew that he wasn't and why he wasn't.

"I'm fine…it's just a little hot in here…" Troy was dabbing his forehead with a napkin and pulling at the collar of his button down.

Chad looked at Troy and decided to maybe mess with his head a bit. "Or is it because Ms. Montez is looking pretty hot right now?"

"What? Where?" Troy turned around in his and began to scan the room just like he did when he first arrived. His friends giggled with amusement as they watched his anxious reaction from Chad's lie.

"I rest my case. It's not hot in here…you're just super nervous." Chad said while placing his elbows on top of the table.

"So? Can you blame me for being so nervous?"

"Guess we can't. What you're doing is pretty much like being suicidal." Taylor quipped. Troy sent daggers in her direction, causing Taylor to hold her hands up in defense.

"Funny."

"I didn't mean it offensively…" Taylor said.

"I know, I know. Just cut me some slack, will you guys?" Troy pleaded with his eyes. The guilt was apparent on Chad and Taylor's faces that they dropped that part of the subject entirely. "So where is she?"

"She's out mingling and taking care of stuff. You know, making sure that everything is in order. I swear she looked kind of like a headless chicken when she left me here at the table." She giggled from the memory from about fifteen minutes ago.

"I bet she's going to be stressing this whole night out more than necessary." Chad scoffed.

"Of course. It's one of the things that our Gabs does best." Taylor said.

Troy felt some anxiety from just sitting there and still keeping the topic on Gabriella.

"I'll be right back…I'm going to get some fresh air." he stood up from his seat and walked towards the doors that led to the outside terrace. All the while, he kept his head low but moved it from side to side to see if he could catch a glimpse of the olive toned angel anywhere.

The room just felt too stuffy for him that he appreciatively stepped outside and enjoyed the sea breeze that hit softly against his skin. He let out a long-winded sigh and stared out into the sunset along the ocean. It was vision unlike any that he has seen before. It was just utterly beautiful and at that moment he knew that he did the right thing by coming. Watching that sunset made him realize that he wouldn't want to watch it with anyone else but Gabriella. She was somewhere around but he wasn't sure where. He would find her though. That was for damn sure.

Troy's thoughts suddenly flipped onto a different woman who went by the name Pamela. She still hasn't called and he was starting to wonder if he should do it to clear things up. They needed to talk about their problems because avoiding them wasn't going to solve anything. Just because the subject isn't being touched doesn't mean that it isn't there.

Troy was standing outside lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that it had nearly been ten minutes since he was last inside. Nothing seemed to matter that much at that moment. He was finally at ease and embraced the calmness that was being presented because he knew that it wouldn't last long if he finally got to see Gabriella.

Suddenly, he felt a presence that knocked him out of his thoughts. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and his cheeks felt flushed. His palms began to sweat and his heartbeat accelerated with adrenaline. A soft laugh filled his ears and he knew just where she was now. He recognized that voice and would be able to pin point anywhere. It was the sound that he considered to be music to his unworthy ears.

At least he didn't have to spend the night searching for her. Gabriella was only a few feet behind him. He no longer felt calm.

He panicked. Should he turn around and approach her? Should he just stay there and hope that she greets him thinking he was a stranger? Should he just leave and go back inside like nothing happened and avoid her the whole night? What was a guy to do when the one he loves doesn't even know that he's there yet he knows that she doesn't want to see him?

Troy knew that he couldn't of just left because he didn't travel this far for nothing. If she had the balls to try and get him back then he couldn't chicken out. It wasn't part of the manly image. Trying to maintain his composure, he slowly turned around and scanned the direction that he heard her voice. He gasped as his eyes landed on her slender figure.

There she was, dressed in a mid thigh black and gold dress. He was able to see her back since the dress allowed for it to be out and her long tresses was pinned up. Gabriella looked undeniably beautiful and sexy yet sweet and serene. The last few rays of the suns dying sunlight glistened on her skin, giving a goddess effect to her. Her bright smile was breathtaking and she just glowed. Troy was amazed by how gorgeous she seemed to have gotten since he saw her last; something he thought was impossible.

He smiled goofily as he watched her from afar while she was chatted to Hollywood's former party girls, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Ricci. They were beautiful woman but had absolutely nothing on Gabriella.

Just as quick as his smile formed, it fell off his face. She was glancing around the terrace and her eyes stopped through his path.

He was caught.

She saw him.

Did she even realize who he was?

Gabriella narrowed her eyes and stared at the dark outline of the figure before her. She furrowed her brows from not instantly recognizing him and they suddenly widened. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? Did she have too much to drink already?

Troy watched and read her lips saying 'Oh my God'. Yep, she noticed him and knew just who he was. Unsure of what to do, he just stared there staring back at her. He instantly regretted that as he saw her excuse herself from the conversation she was having and retreat back to the party.

Tonight was going to be way too interesting and he was the center of the drama.

* * *

**What did you guys think? Did it suck that bad? I hope not because I really did try but I didn't want to make you all wait any longer for an update. Excuse whatever typos I had; I read over it twice but I could've missed a few.  
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**Cliffhanger! What's going to happen next chapter? You'll have to wait and see. Please review! Thanks!**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** **I give a million apologies as to my lack of updating, especially after I said that I would update more. I feel like I've let people down and I'm sorry but things have been horrible the past 2 months or so. I've been dealing a lot with school, my parents are separating, and not to mention but I did catch a bit of the swine flu and I'm fully recovered and cured! So, there's just been way too much going on right now but I did manage to finish this chapter. I honestly think that it could've been better but I just wanted to update so bad already, so I did what I could. I hope you guys like it!**

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_'Dammit.'_

That was the one word that popped up into Troy's brain at that moment.

The one word that could some up everything that he felt.

What was he going to do? He wanted nothing more than to run after her and just wrap her up in his muscular arms and tell her that he was so sorry but he knew that was nowhere near possible. Things were never that easy and this definitely wasn't going to be. This was a task that was on a completely different level than the beginner's level. Troy's head thrashed from side to side to see if anyone noticed how Gabriella rapidly left the balcony and if they noticed why. Thankfully, no one had.

He tried to act as calm as he possibly could which was becoming hard to do with every second that passed. The little speech that he mentally prepared for when he saw her just flew out the window and crashed against the pavement. He froze in his steps and panicked as he tried to create a plan B for what he should do next. He had to take action and quick because he was more than sure that she was freaking out like there was no tomorrow. He was sure that she probably felt confused and overwhelmed but he had to do what was right for the both of them even if she did end up hating him for everything he put her through. Even if it meant that he had to show up to some place that he wasn't even invited to just to get her to listen…or just to even face him when in reality, it was he who was scared to face her.

But he knew that he wanted to be with her from the moment that he saw her again at the lobby of his show. The way she spoke so softly and her sweet laugh just hypnotized him. Her long dark curls and beautiful mocha eyes seducing him with every flutter and flip. Her intelligence that intimidated him yet turned him on. Her way of listening and never judging you. Everything made her just that much more perfect.

Shaking his head to dismiss his thoughts, Troy peered through the windows of the French doors that led to the party. He scanned the room for Gabriella but it was too dark inside for him to even see her.

It was going to be one hell of a long night.

* * *

Gabriella was at lost for words. Did she see what she thought she saw? Or whom she thought it was? Her mind must've been playing tricks on her. It was always playing those cruel tricks on her vulnerable little brain.

'_Yeah, that's all it is…too much stress is making you see things', _she concluded but she knew it was a lie when she looked back once she ran inside. He was still standing there looking somewhat confused. She was bewildered that he was even there. How did he get there? How did he even know about the event? Then it suddenly hit her. There was only one answer for those questions.

Chad and Taylor.

Should Gabriella have felt furious? Perhaps betrayed? Or maybe even thankful? She didn't even know. At that exact moment in time, she felt so confused about everything. She felt mixed emotions about his presence. Part of her wanted to leap for joy that Troy was even there and part of her felt bothered by that. But why was he there? Was it just for the party or was it for her? It would've been self centered of her to assume that she was the reason but it seemed like it was the only one…or at least she hoped it was.

Checking back again, she saw that he hadn't followed her which made her feel a bit relieved.

Gabriella walked back to the table that Taylor was sitting at and was greeted with a wide smile from her best friend. This was the perfect opportunity for her to speak to Taylor since the musicians were taking an intermission and there was no loud noise besides everyone talking.

"Hey, little miss party animal! Where have you been?" asked the chocolate beauty.

"Mingling but that's not important right now. Listen, can I talk to you?" Gabriella asked anxiously.

"Whoa Gabs, you just got to the table and you're already trying to get away? We haven't even danced yet! Come on, just sit down, relax, have a few drinks – " Chad was abruptly cut off.

"Not now Chad. I'll get to you in a sec but right now I just want to talk to Tay and only Tay. So, sorry but back off." She replied as she pulled Taylor by the arm to stand up and moved a few feet away from the table so that Chad wouldn't overhear. Chad sat there looking shocked at how she was acting but shrugged it off when he saw Megan Good sitting at the table next to his.

"Geez calm down. Is everything alright?" asked Taylor as she surveyed her arm from the tight grip Gabriella had.

"You knew." The Latina said as she eyed Taylor.

"Knew what? What are you talking about?" Taylor looked confused but it wasn't enough to hide Gabriella's suspicion that Taylor was in on everything the whole time.

"Taylor, please don't lie to me, okay? Just cut the crap as of now because I'm not in the mood for that."

"Okay…" Taylor looked at her friend with uneasy eyes as to how she should bring up what she knew that they were talking about.

"I know that you were in on Troy coming tonight. I saw him with my own eyes and that would explain why you and Chad have been acting all weird. Plus, that also explains why Chad isn't staying with us." Gabriella stared at her friend dead in the eyes as if to prove her point.

"Okay, you got me. I admit it. I knew he was coming but I swear it's for a good reason. He's not here to ruin things even more than he has but he's here to make things right…to just try and make them better, I swear."

"And how would you know if I was even ready to see him?" Gabriella asked as she threw her hands up exasperatedly.

"I don't but you would have to end up seeing him again sometime so why not now? You just can't avoid him your whole life, especially when he's here just for you."

"Taylor…"

"Gabriella. I know that you're confused and most likely mad about this but I was in on it because I know that he cares about you and you obviously still care about him. I know that I probably crossed the line of the best friend code but I just want to see you happy so please don't bite my head off for it." She pleaded. Taylor felt nervous as she waited for Gabriella's reaction. Her intentions were pure and she hoped that her best friend would see that.

Gabriella faked a smile and a small wave to a few people that passed by, trying her hardest to pretend that everything was alright when in fact it wasn't. She waited until the passers were out of earshot before she responded. "I understand, really, I do. I just…I just don't know what to do. I wasn't expecting any of this at all...especially so soon. I guess it's just taking me by surprised and the shock factor is way too high for me to handle right now." Gabriella said with such a vulnerable expression on her face. She felt so lost. How was she going to contain herself when she saw Troy again? Would she cry? Would she feel anger and slap him? Would she stay quiet and speechless? Would she be strangely happy? She had no answers to any of her emotions and it was taking its toll on her brain.

"Don't stress it. I'm sure Troy will understand that you need your space at first because this isn't easy but please give him a chance to at least state his piece. Don't just shut him out without listening to him first." Taylor said as she embraced her friend and tried to calm her nerves.

"I'll try. By the way, I don't appreciate how you guys forced the situation but I do understand the intention behind it."

"Again, I'm sorry. I really am but I wouldn't have don't it if it weren't for a good cause. Now let's just sit down and enjoy a few drinks, okay?" Taylor put on her brightest smile and guided Gabriella back to the table to sit down and gulp down a few martinis.

"By the way, Chad, I'm in on the whole thing and I know that you know what I'm talking about." Gabriella said as she sipped on her drink and looked at him directly.

"It wasn't my idea, I swear!" Chad said as he raised his hands up in defense.

"Didn't accuse you of it. Oh and before I forget, you and Bolton are staying in the guestroom in my house. And no, I'm not accepting 'no' as an answer and that's final."

"What?! Are you sure you want us – I mean him – to be there? For an entire weekend? We don't want you to feel uncomfortable at your own place." Chad looked at her as though she might have gone crazy. He appreciated the gesture but he wasn't sure if that's something that she wanted to do or if it were something that she felt that she was obligated to do.

"I'm sure. I can't run away from him forever, right? Might as well just get everything done and over with…or at least the awkward part." Gabriella said and downed her martini.

The gears began to twist and turn in Chad's brain as he tried to process the new information. She wanted Troy within her presence. There just might actually be hope for him then to gain what it was that he was there for – forgiveness. Chad arose from his seat and walked away in search of Troy.

* * *

Troy still couldn't figure out what exactly he was going to do. He knew what he wanted to do before they arrived to the party but now that he was actually in the situation, he wasn't quite sure anymore. He knew that he wanted to just tackle Gabriella and just straddle her until she listened but he couldn't just do that…he'd probably get arrested for pulling such a stunt.

He looked around at his surroundings and took in its silence. He was in the bathroom.

Troy let out a deep breath and turned on the faucet to sprinkle his face with its clear liquid. He'd been hiding in there for what seemed like hours but in reality, it was just thirty minutes. If anyone had seen him enter the bathroom, they're probably assuming that he drank too much or his stomach couldn't handle the food.

But he didn't care.

He didn't have anyone to owe an explanation to. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was out looking for him.

'_I don't even think they've noticed that I've been gone since we got here'. _

Just as Troy had that thought, the bathroom door swung open and there he was face to face with a Jonas Brother - Kevin Jonas, to be exact.

Troy continued to stare at his reflection in the mirror and just ignored the older brother who was a few years younger than him. Suddenly, Kevin began to wash his hands at the sink next to him. "Enjoying your night?"

"Not as much as I could be…" Troy replied.

"Yeah, I get you dude. Same here. I'm not really into the party scene as much as Joe is. It's pretty much all for the publicity and what not. I just want to be at home actually."

"Seriously? You're a celebrity…why would you rather be at home than here? You guys get free stuff that you could afford anyway just by showing up." He said as he gave Kevin an incredulous look.

"Its true…the goody bags are always awesome at these type of events. But honestly, I just want to finish the appearance so I could just cuddle on the couch with the fiancé." Kevin replied with a distant look in his eye, a look that pretty much said that there was a specific woman on his mind that he truly loved.

Troy felt a slight pang of jealousy. He wanted to have that silly grin that was on Kevin's face. He wanted to say that he could go home and just cuddle with a fiancé. He wanted that fiancé to be Gabriella just like how it was always supposed to be.

"That's awesome, Kevin. I wish you guys the best and from the pictures that I've seen online, she's quite a catch. You guys look happy." Troy said sincerely as he patted him on the back.

"Thanks man. What about you, any special lady back at home?" Kevin asked.

"Actually there is a lady but she's nothing that special. We're actually going to get a divorce…long story. But there is another woman who is beyond perfect…or at least perfect for me. She's just amazing, beautiful, all around a great girl."

"So why aren't you with that one?"

" 'Cause I fucked up and I'm only here to try and win her over…again. We have a lot of history and I'm just trying to rekindle that because I think – no, wait, I know she's the one." Troy said.

"Tough. Just hang in there. It's like when Joe and Taylor broke up. He was all chill about it but I think that's because he really had his eyes set for Camilla. If not, then those two would have probably been together still. But that's off topic." Kevin said as he shook his head

"Yeah…kind of is. But I do know what you're trying to say."

"Yeah, well good luck man. I should be getting back though. If you ever need any inspiration or a song to win the girl over, just pick up the new Jo Bro CD. Trust me, the chicks dig it." And with that, Kevin shook Troy's hand and left the bathroom.

Troy laughed at the situation and shook his head. Did Kevin just seriously give him advice and promote the CD at the same time? Now that's true talent.

Deciding that it was time to leave the bathroom and try to find his friends and Gabriella, Troy made his way to the door and swung it open. Before he could take a step out, there he was in front of Chad.

"Hoops! Finally! I've been freaking looking for you all over!" exclaimed Chad as he shoved Troy back inside the bathroom.

"Dude! Do you have any idea how gay that must've looked just now? You just pushed me into the guys room!" Troy said as he threw up his hands.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, not right now. We have bigger things to worry about right now."

"Which I was going to handle right now actually until you decided to push me in here for whatever reason."

"Just shut up, stop complaining, and listen to me. You and I, I and you, you and me, me and yourself have a place to stay for the weekend and it's not a hotel."

"Okay…big deal. Where we rooming at, your truck?"

"Not at all. We're rooming tonight with two beauties."

"Don't tell me you actually got models to talk to you. Look, I can't and I refuse to go for that because all I want is to be around Gabriella and you know that!" Troy began to pace in the bathroom.

"Exactly, retard! We're staying at her place with her and Taylor."

"What? Why? How? Explain." He stopped in his tracks as he looked at Chad dumbfounded.

"She obviously knows you're here and she pretty much wants to murder Taylor and me but that's not important right now. I don't know why but she did say that she needs to deal with you eventually so she might as well get over the awkward part now. How? I don't know how. Did she see you?"

"Yeah, she noticed me out on the balcony when she was talking to a few celebrities. That's when she dashed out and I haven't seen her around since."

"Well duh, of course you're not going to see her if you're hiding in here."

"I freaked out! What did you think I would do? I mean, I scared her off."

"That you did." Chad said while he placed his hand on Troy's shoulder.

"What did she say about seeing me? Did you talk to her?" Troy asked anxiously.

"No but she did talk to Taylor and I haven't been able to see what she said to her. Just chill. I'm sure everything is going to be alright…eventually."

"I hope so. Let's just get out of here and try to enjoy what's left of this shindig."

"I agree. There are definitely tons of sexy models here and I noticed Megan Good giving me the eyes." Chad said as they walked back into the party.

"Before I forget, please remind me to pick up a Jonas Brothers CD."

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**What did you think? Liked how I added Kevin Jonas? I hope everyone liked it! I tried to give something that you felt was worth the wait but I don't know. I feel rusty with this stuff and hopefully that doesn't show. Anyway, please review and please don't bash me too hard about my absence!** **Review!**


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